Day After Day
by descriptionsalive21
Summary: Life is hard enough when you're not crushing on the girls' teenage heartthrob of the school. How do you think Luffy feels?
1. Chapter 1

The raven haired boy stood staring off at his long time crush. He realized how stupid he was for not ever getting up and talking to the man, but he was nervous, things like this weren't supposed to happen.

Luffy walked home like usual, saddened by his lack of bravery and his inability to speak up to the one he wanted to most. How could he though? He was right, the guy was one of the most popular in the school, and worst, most popular for dating girls. Every girl to be specific. Besides, the man was already in a relationship at the moment. He didn't stand a chance.

Maybe the courage would come to him one day and he wouldn't be afraid to state how he felt anymore? Maybe he could just lay the cards on the table and if he's rejected he'd get over it. Maybe he could move on if that's what's needed.

Maybe he could live life how he was supposed to after all this shit had passed him by,

"A calmer, more normal life," he reminded himself for the hundredth time since this mess had begun.

"It'd be over if you just told him…"

Luffy got home and went back to his normal, energetic self; he played video games with Ace, ate dinner with everybody, then went upstairs to finish his homework.

But something interrupted his nightly routine when there was an unexpected knock on his door.

"Luffy?" Ace asked outside his door.

"Yeah?" The smaller raven replied.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," Luffy set aside his homework for later and opened the door for his brother. "'Sup?"

"You seem kinda out of it lately, everything good?" The older one asked, slight concern in his tone.

"Y-yeah.." Luffy replied, taken back by the sudden show of concern on his brother's face

"Are you sure? You can always tell me anything."

"Well, how do you…ask someone out?"

The older of the two was admittedly kind of surprised at the question, but answered honestly nevertheless.

"Well, you get the courage to stare the person you like in the eyes, and you be honest with them. Tell them the truth, but be nice about it. You wouldn't want to sound like you're weird or desperate."

"I see…well, that's all I guess. I gotta finish my homework, so I'll see you tomorrow. Later!"

"Later," Ace left the room feeling a bit better that he'd helped his brother, and hoped for the best tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~§~~~~~~~~~~~

On the way to school, the obsidian haired one met with his friend who had the hair colour of a marimo.

They greeted each other and walked to school like they did everyday, talking about the things they did last night or things they plan to do on the weekend.

"So, Ace talked to me last night."

"About what?" his friend replied.

"I think I'm going to tell Sanji…" Luffy said, slightly nervously, anxious to hear what his friend was going to respond with.

"Really?!" His friend screamed back.

"Well, what's the worst thing that could come out of it?! He could just reject me and then I'd know..or at least that's what Ace told me."

"Well, you're right. But that's pretty much what I've been telling you for years," Zoro said before laughing with his friend and entering the school grounds.

~~~~~~~~~~§~~~~~~~~~~~

First bell rang and Luffy walked into his class. This was one of the only classes in which the younger students mixed with the older; meaning that the younger boy got to see his friends and his crush. Sadly, those two people didn't quite like each other. So when Luffy walked in, he was greeted with yelling and cursing from the two guys.

"Shitty Marimo."

"Curly-Q," Luffy, being used to the wake up call from his friend, walked to the back of the class where he could sleep without attracting unwanted attention; ignoring the insults.

~~~~~~~~~~§~~~~~~~~~~~

Class began and ended with a blur like everyday and the next period was gym. The only other class the younger student had besides health.

Zoro called Luffy over at the lockers after getting dressed.

"I want you to talk to him, now."

"Wh-why?" the younger asked his friend.

"Because you said you would and you should do it today. If you don't, it'll be like when someone says they're going on a diet tomorrow. Tvhey say they will and they almost never do.

Luffy realized for the umpteenth time that day that this wasn't something he should be nervous about, he'd talked to people before, this isn't much different, yeah?

"Ok. After school, but, can you tell him to meet me?" the raven asked with the happiest and most nervous smile the other had ever seen the kid wear.

"Sure, but if you don't tell him then, I will."

~~~~~~~~~~§~~~~~~~~~~~

The end of the day approached and Luffy's nerves had washed away. He walked up to the meeting place and saw Sanji standing there, cigarette in his mouth and hands in his pocket. The younger man walked up with his nerve and stated his reason of the meeting.

"Sanji, I like you; a lot. Go out with me?"

Sanji was taken back at what he said, but answered honestly non-the-less.

"Sorry, I...have a girlfriend," Sanji said and he scurried off quickly, not used to such a forward approach, especially from a guy.

Luffy stood heartbroken, but not enough to be still for more than a minute. So he went home, the same way he always did.


	2. Chapter 2

Luffy sat in his room alone, not crying, not particularly sad. But it was dark, and he was just…lying there. Nobody to bother him with a ridiculous request, nobody to make him feel more embarrassed, and nobody to ruin the already slightly crushing atmosphere.

A knock on the bedroom door broke him from his train of thought and got him up.

"Luffy? You in there?" Makino asked from the hall.

"Mmhm," Luffy replied.

"Dinner's ready, come eat soon," She said and footsteps were heard walking back down the hall towards the stairs.

This brightened Luffy's day up considerably; when food was in the question, he didn't need to sulk anymore.

Luffy hurried downstairs to find Ace, Garp, Shanks, and Makino already eating and putting extras on their plates as they knew the youngest and his brother would soon eat everyone's shares.

Luffy sat in his usual spot at the end of the rectangular table, across from his brother, and began placing every kind of food laid out on the table onto his plate.

"So Luffy," Ace began, "Did you do that thing today?"

Luffy's shoulders immediately tensed and then relaxed, "Yeah," he said calmly, ignoring everyone else and getting back to the barbecued chicken Shanks had made.

"What's this 'thing'?" Garp asked, not particularly caring as he shoved food into his mouth.

"Nothing special," Luffy answered, grabbing for another piece of..well..everything.

"Luffy's got a crush," Ace teased, smiling devilishly, not caring if he was going to get a punch for it later.

Shanks nearly choked on his dinner when he got word of this information and he, as politely as possible, began chugging water so he didn't have to get a smack to the back from Luffy's grandfather.

"Really? Is she pretty?" Makino asked, taken back as Luffy had hidden something effectively for once.

"Yeah, pretty," Luffy responded, a bit taken back at everyones reactions towards the news.

"So, have you asked her out yet?" Makino voiced what everyone was thinking.

"Yeah, I did, today. Got rejected. Not a big surprise," Luffy said as he finished his food, his stomach bulging from the amount he just ate.

Everybody went pretty silent then, generally feeling bad for the guy.

Right as they were about to offer some sort of apology for bringing it up, Luffy stood, and walked upstairs.

"I'm going to sleep, night!" He shouted in his typical non-caring manner.

Shanks, Garp, and Makino looked at each other for a few seconds, their concern obvious. This was probably the kid's first crush, and this happened. They mentally agreed to leave it 'till tomorrow and see if Luffy was ok.

~~~~~~~~ƒ~~~~~~~~

Luffy got up to his room and locked the door, putting some things in order before turning off the lights and wondering if he should just stay home tomorrow, save himself the embarrassment of going and seeing the one person he really didn't want to see. The person he'd longed to see before today. He wondered if he and Sanji could just be friends after that.

"Friends, huh? Better than nothing," Luffy thought as he drifted into a deep, calming sleep.

~~~~~~~~ƒ~~~~~~~~

Luffy woke up the next morning to the smell of pancakes and the sound of his alarm.

As he slowly arose from his deep sleep, he checked the time on his seemingly very bright phone. Seven fifteen. A record. Just a few minutes off from his usual seven thirty wake up.

Luffy trudged over to the dresser to make himself look better than he did now and was happy to remember that himself from yesterday had some extra time after dinner, so he'd laid some cloths out for himself in the future.

"Past me was awesome," Luffy giggled to himself.

He put on the ensemble and walked downstairs where he was greeted with a smile from his stepmom.

"Sleep well?" She asked in a comforting voice, hoping he'd slept off the possibly crushing events of yesterday.

"Yes. I'm hungry, what's for breakfast?" Luffy replied quickly as he always did; morning was a pivotal point in the day as it's a time for food.

Makino mentally slapped herself. As if a cheerful his like Luffy could be heartbroken for more than ten minutes at most. He'd probably gotten over this girl and had moved on a while ago.

"Yes, there're pancakes and waffles. Eat up!" She said, handing the plate off to Luffy.

"Thanks!" Luffy said before rushing to the table and wolfing down his food as he did every morning.

Luffy rushed out the door in fear of being late for the second time that week, grabbing his keys on the way out and shutting the door.

School began at eight and it was a ten minute walk. The time at the moment was seven fifty three so Luffy had to move it if he wanted to be there on time.

The raven ran onto the school's property, bumping into a tall lean figure in his rush to the door.

"Ah! Sorry!" Luffy apologized to one of the schools nurses, nurse Law.

"Luffy? You're late again," the older criticized him, making him feel bad for being two minutes late.

"Sorry…I have to get going," Luffy said, getting to his feet and continuing his rush to the door.

~~~~~~~~ƒ~~~~~~~~

First class was math. Not his favourite but it was easy and the teacher, mrs. Nico, was especially nice and helped Luffy understand things more than a normal teacher would. Another perk was that it wasn't a class where the older kids mixed with younger, so he could steer clear of Sanji for another little while. Hopefully.

**Sorry if this just seems like rambling:D Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Reviews make me better! Thank you for reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"Nico sensei~~ I don't understand this question~!" Luffy chirped out another request from the poor teacher and she walked down the isle to his seat for the forth time in the last twenty minutes.

"What is it this time, Luffy?" The teacher asked in her typically sweet, comforting voice.

"What is the value of x?" Luffy said, very seriously; anybody overhearing their conversation mentally face-palming at the teen's dumb question.

"I don't know, you tell me," the teacher replied, hoping to coax the answer out of the student.

"Ehhh~? But you're the teacher! You should know everything about this subject!" The raven complained.

Just as more protest were about to escape the teen's mouth, the bell rang signalling the end of first period and that the students should move to the next subject they have. Luffy's was art. This subject _was_ with the older kids as well as the younger, but they sat in different areas of the class so Luffy was probably ok as he figured Sanji wouldn't really want to confront him about what happened.

Luffy walked into class, hoping, praying that he wouldn't see the blond here. But by an awful chance, he did see the other teen walking in front of him. Opting to just pretend he wasn't there and to walk past him, Luffy passed the guy and hurried to his seat.

He still liked him, and it didn't particularly matter. But the fact he was rejected like that just made it kinda embarrassing to face the guy.

Luffy sat in his usual seat at the back of the class, away from Sanji but close to Zoro.

Zoro leaned over from his seat in the row next to Luffy's and whispered to him.

"So did you tell him?"

"Yeah," Luffy replied calmly, trying to listen to the lesson for once.

"What was the idiot's reaction?"

"I was rejected," The other teen said flatly, not very surprised at the other's reaction.

"What? Did he even care?"

"Yeah, he seemed a bit jumpy. It's over now though, forget it," Luffy said and the class began.

~~~~~~~Ω~~~~~~~

When class ended, Luffy made his way to the door. Almost passing the people arguing about something he'd probably hear and laugh about later from one of the two men arguing, Zoro, Luffy averted his eyes from the other male in the conversation, Sanji.

As Luffy walked through the pair, head down, their argument came to a halt as the blond had watched the black haired male walk away.

"Regret something, cook?" Zoro asked, working to shame the other even further.

Sanji glared at the green haired 'bastard' and walked away.

"Why does he have to be such an asshole?!" Sanji whispered harshly to himself.

"Who's an asshole?" Nami replied, joining herself in the non-existent conversation.

"N-Nami-swan! Sorry, I was just thinking about the shitty Marimo," Sanji said balling his fist in anger at the thought of the bastards smug face.

"What'd he say this time?" Nami asked, not particularly caring but just making conversation.

"Nothing, he just wants to make me mad about something I did."

"What'd you do?" Nami questioned again, a little bit more intrigued this time.

"I turned someone who had a crush on me down politely because I already had a girlfriend," Sanji stated.

"But your girlfriend broke up with you two days ago," the orange haired girl replied.

"…I know…," Sanji answered a little nervously, knowing he was wrong.

"Do you know how much courage it takes a girl to ask out her crush? This girl's probably heart broken! You have to go back and talk to her, Sanji. Do you know her name? I can go get her for you,"

"I know the name, but it's…not a girl..," Sanji said, looking away from Nami.

"A guy?! Wow, I never thought Luffy'd have enough courage to ask you out," she said to herself.

"You knew who it was? How?"

"Please," she began, "All of his friends know, it was never really a secret from anyone but you."

Sanji's newly formed blush was apparent, had he really been the only one not to know about this? It was embarrassing enough to know a guy has a crush on you, but to know that your crush knows about the guy that has a crush on you has a crush on you? That was confusing…

~~~~~~~Ω~~~~~~~

The day ended and Sanji walked out of the school onto the yard, though, seeing Luffy on the grass, he decided to steer clear of that area. But to no avail, he would have to confront the teen sooner or later and he guessed the teen chose sooner.

Luffy called Sanji from across the yard before running up towards him. Sanji stopped his movement and waited for the teen to come closer.

"Hey, Sanji. Sorry for what happened before, wanna be friends?" The teen stated flatly and quickly with a large grin plastered on his face.

"Uh…Yeah, sure. Sorry about what happened I guess," the blond haired one replied, not really knowing how to respond.

"Cool! See you around then~!" Luffy said, running back to his friends who were sitting and waiting to hear how things went between him and Sanji.

"Friends? Hope this goes well," Sanji said to himself, turning, walking away, and lighting up a cigarette.

**Ah~ This is late…sorry, I got sidetracked watching Youtube and playing video games. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, sorry if it's a little short! Thanks for reading! :P**


	4. Chapter 4

When Luffy returned home, Ace was there to greet him at the front door, food in hand to coax any answers Luffy had about how today's "friend" idea went.

Luffy was practically dragged by the smell of delicious food up to Ace's room, to the dungeon of questions.

Ace walked casually into the room he'd been in over a hundred times leading his younger brother in as well.

Luffy was tired enough not to know exactly where he was going but awake enough to realize he was following Ace, no, he was following the food in Ace's hand.

The heavenly smell of food that he'd recognized as food from his favourite restaurant that he couldn't go to anymore for obvious reasons, the Baratie.

Ace put the plate of fancy takeout onto his bed and Luffy practically jumped onto it trying to get to the delectable smelling food before his older brother could snatch it away again. Ace closed the door and walked over to the boy stuffing food in his mouth making his cheeks puff up as wide as they could as if he were rubber. The older male sat on his bed and watched the carnivorous kid almost choke on the trap used to lure him in before asking one of the bigger questions he planned to drill his brother with over the course of the next twenty minutes or so,

"So, are you guys friends now?"

Luffy stopped eating for a second to process the information he'd received,

"Yeah! I think we're going to all be friends together, too! Me, Nami, Zoro, Chopper, Usopp, Nico sensei, Franky sensei, Brook sensei, and Sanji!" The raven haired kid exclaimed excitedly before returning to his meal.

Ace smiled at his brother's simple response and went on with his questioning,

"So what did he say when you asked him? Had it been a long time since you guys last talked?"

"He said something like 'Yeah, sure,' or somethin', and we hadn't talked in a year or something," Luffy replied to his brother.

"But…you only just confessed to him a few days ago, right?"

"Oh, really?" His brother seemed genuinely surprised, "Ohhhhh! Yeah, then it was like, a day of not talking, it felt like so long though! I just thought it would be cool to be with him…" Luffy's voice trailed off, obviously not sure what to say after due to the lack of knowledge in this subject.

Ace mentally face-palmed but soon his attention was drawn over to the plate sitting in front of his brother, Ace should've known the little vacuum wouldn't last fifty more questions, so he opted for one; just to settle his brother's soon anxious desires to find some more food now that he'd gotten a taste of some.

"Are you okay with just being friends?" Ace asked.

Luffy stopped looking around the room for some other thing that could be considered food and looked at Ace, slightly confused,

"Why wouldn't I be? Isn't that why I wanna be around him all the time?"

Ace sighed inwardly, going with his earlier strategy of explain, then try to get some sleep to sooth his soon-to-be-headache.

"No Luffy, we've went over this. I thought you understood this before you asked him out; you like him. More than a friend and differently than one of your friends."

"I know that, I just don't get it, won't he like me too if we're friends?"

"Not like that, Luffy."

Ace explained for what felt like the hundredth time to his brother before shooing him out of his room so he could sleep from his 'predicted head ache.'

As dinner crept around the corner and Luffy smelt the food from his room, the hardly working student set aside his laptop and ran down the stairs towards the good smell of food and the good comfort of his family.

Slowly approaching the dining room at the bottom of the stairs, he noticed something different, his family wasn't at the table yet, not _all_ of it anyway.

Ace was sitting at the opposite end of the table from where Luffy usually sits, drinking a glass of water and looking to Luffy in a way that showed he was both guilty of something, but also pleased with what he was guilty for.

"Where is everyone?" Luffy asked, walking towards his chair and taking a seat.

"In the kitchen, helping out," Ace replied, a smug grin still plastered to his face.

"But usually grandpa is out here by now, he's too lazy to help anyway."

"Yeah, but they all wanted to greet our guest, who's graciously helping us with dinner."

"Who?"

"Sanji."

**Thank you for reading~~! Sorry I left it on a cliffhanger but I'm really tired due to an MRI and lack of sleep. Also, big help from myself for betaing (because my friend was sick). But I hope you enjoyed! I'll try to make it longer next time~**


	5. Chapter 5

"Sanji?!" Luffy almost screamed but restrained knowing the blond would probably hear him if he did.

"Yeah," Ace began, "I think you guys need to talk, you know? I don't think everyone else knows that _he's _the one you're crushing on by the way."

Just then the kitchen door swung open with little force and out walked Makino and Shanks, smiling at the sight of their two sons.

"Oh, hi Luffy," she said smiling "I met your friend, he seems nice," Makino said as she sat down.

"Y-yeah?" Luffy said nervously, not so much that his parents met his crush, but more that Sanji was here and he didn't know until now.

The next person to open the kitchen door was Garp. He was holding a large bowl of food that was surely one of many, knowing Sanji.

"You're down…finally," he said whispering the last part, not wanting to be rude knowing there was a guest in the other room.

"Yeah, I was in my room," Luffy said as he got up from his chair, "Be right back," and with that, Luffy walked into the kitchen to see Sanji before they started eating.

The door opened with little force and Luffy stepped into the small, cramped room that held three things worth mentioning: him, Sanji, and their dinner. Sanji looked back to see who was standing in the door and seemed slightly surprised to see Luffy as he thought he would be in the dining room waiting for food.

"Hey, Luffy," Sanji stated casually before turning back to finish his food masterpiece.

"Sanji~ I didn't know you were coming over! Why didn't you text me?" Luffy whined.

"Because I don't have your number," said the chef before grabbing the three plates he was working on and heading out the door.

"Dinner's ready," Sanji said to everyone at the table as Luffy walked out of the door behind him.

-π-

"Thanks, Sanji!" Everyone said before the adults dispersed to other areas of the house to do their own thing, leaving only Ace, Luffy, and Sanji.

"Ace~ you should've told me he was coming~!" Luffy whined, directing his complaints to a different party.

"What? And miss the shocked look on your face when I told you? No way," Ace said, smiling.

"If I may interrupt, why do you care so much as to invite me over?" Sanji asked, looking in Ace's direction.

"I'm his older brother, I feel like it's my job," Ace said, standing up and heading for the stairs, "I'll be in my room, have fun," he said the last part as he ascended up the stairs, leaving Luffy and Sanji to talk amongst themselves.

The sudden silence in the room was evident and it was getting awkward for both people in the room. But Luffy was the first to break the silence.

"The food was ammmmaaazing!" Luffy said, or rather yelled the last part.

"Tch, no problem. I love cooking," Said Sanji, leaning back in his chair and looking up to the white popcorn ceiling.

"Well I love-" Luffy stopped himself from saying anything embarrassing but as Sanji turned his head to see Luffy with a slight red tint on his cheeks, he knew he had to think of a ploy, "Eating…" Luffy said quietly, "Your food."

Sanji realized what Luffy was going to say and he too blushed slightly, thanking him in a quiet voice.

"So…how's your girlfriend doing?" Luffy asked, trying to cover up the awkward subject with another.

Sanji visibly froze for a moment but soon his face softened up and he said as calmly as he could, "I don't have one."

-π-

"EHHH?!" Luffy yelled, though he probably shouldn't have. What was so surprising? 'They probably just broke up yesterday or something,' he thought to himself before calmly asking Sanji, "I'm sorry you two broke up. How did it happen though?"

"I broke up with her because she was too clingy, wouldn't get off my back," Sanji said, leaning back into the chair again.

"Why would you say yes to coming here then?" The black haired teen pried the other with more questions.

"What do you mean?" Sanji asked with a confused look on his face.

"Nami always says that breakups are hard, that's why some girls eat ice-cream and cry all day after the breakup," Stated Luffy.

"Well, for one, that's usually girls, not really guys. Next, It kinda happened like…three days ago," the blond said rubbing the back of his head in a cliché way to mask the awkwardness.

"But when I asked you out on Wednesday you said you had a girlfriend…" Luffy said, starting to realize that he'd been lied to.

"Yeah," Sanji said, his head now looking down to the floor in an act of shame "I lied.."

"B-but I thought we were friends!" Luffy screamed getting up from his chair and knocking it over in the process, "Friends don't lie to each other!" After saying what he felt needed to be said, Luffy stormed up the stairs to his bedroom and slammed the door.

**This is short too…shit. I'm so so so so so _sooooo_ sorry for what I feel like is a late update! I have five or so school projects that my teachers just decided to dump on my ass all at once, not to mention I've had writers block for about a week so I'm sorry if my updates are short and take a while, I'll try my best!**

**Love you guys, thanks for reading, means a lot!**


	6. Chapter 6

Muffled shouts from his brother's voice and the front door slamming could be heard from upstairs in Luffy's room. Sure he overreacted a little, but he still liked Sanji a lot. He didn't think he would lie to him. Especially not to get keep him at a 'safe distance'.

From down the hall, Luffy heard his parents' door open and close followed by Makino's light footsteps headed downstairs to cool down the undoubtably angry Ace, but to also figure out what just happened.

The teen lay down on his bed curled up in a Luffy-sized ball, not crying, not screaming, just quietly lying there. It hurt. The raven was nice to everyone, always had a smile on his face to lighten the mood, to make anyone feel better, to generally be the good guy. So how could someone lie to him? How could someone do something so mean to him? It wasn't fair. He knew that.

Luffy straightened out of his ball and walked into his bathroom to take a shower.

After he stripped down and left his special straw hat off to the side, he turned the handles to a hotter-than-warm temperature and stepped in. The hot drops of water softly engulfed his body and he sighed, something the energetic teen hardly ever did as it showed exasperation.

Luffy only really got mad when people hurt his friends. He wasn't exactly used to getting hurt _by _his friends_. _

The raven chose not to dwell on the subject for too long as he knew it wouldn't make him feel any better. The teen washed his body and hair, and by the time he was drying off, he'd almost forgotten about the entire situation. Instead trying to focus on possible breakfast options for tomorrow; that was, until he got a knock on his door from none other than the other known former-screaming-black-haired-energetic-narcoleptic teen in the house, Ace.

"Luffy?" Ace asked through the door, not wanting to intrude on his brother's peace too much.

"Yeah?" The younger teen asked as he put night cloths on and used his towel one last time to ruffle his hair free of water.

"Can I come in?" The other asked from the other side of the door.

"Sure," Luffy said as he lied back down on his bed and watched the doorway waiting for his brother to come in.

The door opened slowly and Ace's head poked through. After stepping through the door and walking to the bed, Ace plopped down and lied down next to his brother.

"I told Makino," Ace said calmly, hoping not to receive anything bad from his brother in response.

"'Bout what?" The younger teen asked, not really caring about what he said as he stared up at the ceiling, his eyes half lidded.

"That you like Sanji _that way_," Ace responded. Ace wasn't particularly paying attention either as he drummed his thumbs on his abdomen, "She said to come talk to you 'cause you were really mad before."

Luffy looked to the side of his room, staring at his bedside table that held his prize possession hat that his Dad gave him when he was little. The raven loved that hat because it held a lot of meaning to him. Whenever he saw it, he was reminded of so many things that happened in his childhood. Not all of them were good, like when his brother Sabo drowned. But not all of them were bad, either. It reminded him that he still had a lot of friends and a lot of family members that loved him and would take a bullet for him.

The raven's attention was brought back when he was nudged from the side by his brother.

"Hm?" Luffy asked as he didn't hear his brother the first time.

"I said are ya mad anymore?" The other asked again.

"No, not really. Just tired," Luffy said before yawning, "I'm gonna go to sleep soon."

"Ok," the older brother said as he stood up, "Sleep well," Ace said with a smile and he walked out of the room, turning off the light and closing the door as he left.

Luffy checked his phone, seeing the bright screen display eleven thirty he decided to set his alarm for eight and go to sleep.

A soft knock on his door awoke the black haired teen before Makino's voice came through it asking him if he was awake or not. Unaware of the time, Luffy's head fell to the side to check the clock on his phone that read nine fifteen. Luffy shot out of his bed and rushed to get dressed before rushing out his bedroom door and down the stairs to eat quickly before going to school.

Luffy grabbed some toast that was put out for him and he ran out the door, grabbing his bag in the process.

"I'm leaving!" The teen yelled inside before slamming the front door and running to school. The Monkey family only lived two minutes away from the school if you walked, but if you're late, that would seem like two minutes too long.

Luffy arrived at the school and rushed inside towards his class, he didn't bother putting his books in his as he slammed open the door to his classroom.

Everybody's heads turned to see the black haired teen panting but smiling that he actually made it before class started.

Mrs. Nico started the lesson and, because Luffy slept through it, class was over in a flash. The teen ran towards his locker located one row down from the class he was just in and he exchanged his books for the others he needed for his next class. The teen was digging through his locker in search for some kind of food when he was tapped on the back.

"Yeah?" the raven haired teen asked, not lifting his head from the locker.

"Can I talk to you?" Sanji asked from behind the other.

Luffy's shoulders visibly froze and he lifted his head out of the locker, "Uh…sure."

**I know, I know, they're all late T_T I'm no happier than you. I'm really sorry for the late and kinda boring chapter but I'm probably going to end this story soon so I'll try to put in some better stuff ^^ Again, really sorry it's late! School's been a bitch. Let me know if any of you guys have a suggestion for the next chapter :D The beginning of this chapter was partially inspired by Blood Princess Red, thank you so much for all of your reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7

The two teens walked down the hall receiving some confused stares from friends who were aware of their situation, but none the less they walked on.

Arriving at the closed door labeled "Storage," Sanji pushed the younger teen lightly and encouragingly into the closet, shutting the door after walking in himself.

"Why are we here?" Luffy asked, obviously confused.

"I wanted to apologize. I'm sorry I lied to you…" the blond admitted rubbing his shoulder and looking away embarrassed.

"Oh…" not knowing how to respond, Luffy also looked away from Sanji, not that he would've known he was still looking at him given they were in a dark closet. "But…why did you lie? I would've understood if you just said no.."

"I don't have anything against the idea," Sanji stated quickly before Luffy could make him feel worse than he already did, "I'm just not used to it. I have a reputation for dating a lot of pretty girls, I've never dated a guy before…I don't know if people would think I was weird for it. I'm just a little…iffy about it," Sanji rambled on before becoming fed up with the lack of light and fumbling around for a light switch, accidentally leaning over the other male in the small closet with him, knocking them both over. Sanji hovering over Luffy in an awkward face-to-face position; their breaths colliding.

"Uh…Sanji?" Luffy asked in a winded breath as all of it was just knocked out of his body from the fall.

"S-sorry!" Sanji apologized, quickly getting up from the uncomfortable position and helping the other up as well.

"No problem," the other replied, "So…you're just worried about what other people will think?"

"Yeah…and the fact that it's something new that I'm not used to."

"Why would you care about what other people think or say? It's your life, not theirs. And dating a guy is just like a girl, I think," the younger stated from his experience on both topics covered.

"Luffy, you're the guy who has a reputation for not caring about reputation and doing whatever the hell you want to."

"And you're the guy who likes girls. Aren't you tired of being one thing? Be creative!" If Sanji could see Luffy's grin right now, it would've been the biggest grin he'd ever seen.

"Jeez, you really know how to make a guy smile," Sanji said, smiling despite the deep conversation and dark surroundings, "So…why don't we try it?"

"…Eh? Try what?"

The blond face-palmed.

"Try dating, you idiot!" Sanji said in a louder voice in attempt to get the younger's brain to process information quicker than snail's pace.

"Oh…really?!" Luffy yelled, obviously excited at his success in getting Sanji to go out with him.

"Yes really now would you keep your voice down!" Sanji said in a hushed yell, knowing the bell for class had not yet rung so there were still students in the halls.

"Ok!" Luffy yelled, still grinning like an idiot.

Sanji opened the door to about twenty or more students staring at him and Luffy, quietly whispering to their friends with surprised faces. Sanji seemed mortified, but in all the shock, Luffy smiled and grabbed Sanji's hand, proudly cutting through the crowd and walking to his next their next class.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~**_Lunch_**~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Ooou, so you two are together now?" Nami smiled at her semi-accomplishment of guilting Sanji into asking Luffy out.

Speaking of the blond, he had his head flat against his desk with his arms to shield his embarrassment from earlier. He was the opposite of his new boyfriend who was happy as ever, eating both his and Sanji's lunch.

"So, the shit cook finally has a boyfriend, huh?" Zoro teased while blocking the unwanted food-thief from eating his lunch.

"Shut up, Marimo," the blond retorted with the typical reply, lifting his head from his hands and beginning to eat the bit of lunch that was left.

"I think it's quite cute," Nico sensei, who usually ate lunch with the group, said with a giggle; her hand covering her mouth.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~**_End of the Day_**~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

"Do you wanna come over to my house to play video games or something?" Sanji asked the raven haired teen, hoping he'd say yes as he still felt slightly guilty about lying to him in the first place.

"Sure!" Was the other's excited response as they walked hand in hand (thanks to Luffy) back to the Baratié together.

**TBC**

**Probably gonna have one or two more chapters of this story. So sorry about the lateness (and the extremely short chapter...damn)! I have roughly 20 more days of school left until summer vacation, I think I'll try to update stories every other week if I can until summer. Then I'll try to do one or two a week. Again, as always, thanks a trillion for reading! Review, it helps and gets me to post faster sometimes ^^**


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm home!" Yelled Sanji as he and Luffy ran up the stairs through the back, avoiding the restaurant on the lower level as not to disturb anyone.

Sanji knew he wouldn't get an answer as it was only four o'clock in the afternoon so his dad was still working downstairs whereas Sanji's shift didn't start until eight so he could have time to do homework, exercise, get cleaned up, and whatever else he needed to do before he had to go to work for three hours.

The boys jogged up the stairs and walked down the short hallway to Sanji's room. Throwing their bags to the side Luffy picked up a controller and sat on the bed (as if he'd been there before) while Sanji turned the T.V and console on.

"What do you wanna play?" Sanji asked as he gestured to an entire wall-covering shelf of assorted video games.

"Hmm….Do you have Call of Duty?" The younger teen asked with a bright smile on his face.

"Yeah," Sanji walked over to his collection and began sifting through the shelves, "Which one?"

"Two."

Sanji quickly found the game and popped it into the console where the two began shooting bots and each other until about seven forty five, the time when Sanji _usually_ went downstairs to start his shift early. Obviously the 'usual' didn't apply today.

Sanji's phone rang with the annoying alarm he'd set incase he ever forgot to go to work (which he never did but he was glad today that he had it). The repetitive chime went off for about thirty seconds before either of the two boys noticed it due to the mass amount of screaming playful death threats and shells hitting the ground after leaving an unsuppressed MP40.

"Ah, shit! What time is it?" Sanji said pausing his side of the split-screen and checking his phone realizing he had ten minutes before he had to go to work, "Fuck!" The blond male exclaimed before jumping off the bed and rushing to get into his work uniform.

"What's wrong?" Luffy said, quitting the game from Sanji's controller and going to see why Sanji was rushing all over the bedroom.

"I have work in ten minutes, I gotta go," Sanji said with one foot out the door before the raven called back to him.

"Wait!" Luffy said quickly, causing Sanji to look back suddenly and when he did, he realized his face was less than an inch from the other's.

Sanji was about to jerk back in surprise but Luffy quickly pecked him on the lips causing the other to blush heavily.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Said Luffy with a rather large smile plastered on his face as he walked back in the room, grabbed his things and left the room, leaving a half shocked and half flustered Sanji standing there as precious time typically used to prepare for the night shift was slipping away.

Sanji broke out of his daze and he ran downstairs towards the kitchen. When he arrived finally, he was met with some fairly surprised faces as Sanji is always early, but today he was exactly on time.

The youngest chef in the room ignored everybody as he got to work after washing his hands.

Patty, one of the kitchen staff, towered over Sanji in an effort to intimidate him with no avail. "So, why were you late, Sanji?" Patty said casually and cooly. Also attempting to impress some of the other staff in the kitchen by talking down to the owner's son.

"Why? Did you miss me?" Sanji retorted, not bothering to look up from what he was doing, "Besides, I'm not late. Check your watch, it's eight. My shift starts at eight, shit head."

Patty grumbled some insults making sure not to voice them too loud as he knew Zeff would dock his pay if he did it again as he did last time.

Speak of the devil, the man walked into the kitchen at that moment to ensure his son was at work on time, even though he knew he would as Sanji never missed work.

"Why are you all slacking off?! Get back to work!" Zeff yelled, noticing everyone staring at Sanji. Though, it did slightly interest the man to know something went off without him being there and he wanted to know what. Zeff walked over to Patty, seeing as Sanji wouldn't give answers, to see what was going on.

"Would you mind telling me exactly _why _my idiot son is the centre of attention at the moment?" The blond man asked with a calm expression but his words showed slight irritation towards the face that he can't leave his kitchen staff alone for twenty minutes without something happening.

"Sanji just came in later than usual; we were surprised is all," Patty said, still slightly grumbling his words in anger even though he was aware he was talking to his boss.

Zeff was slightly surprised at the fact Sanji didn't come in early like he always did. The said man strode over to his Son's work station and leaned against the counter, "Hi, Sanji."

"Hi, Old Geezer."

"Why were you late to work?"

"I wasn't. I was here exactly at eight."

"You're usually here at seven forty five."

"I was busy, now could I please cook in peace?" Sanji said, ending the conversation. Zeff shrugged it off even though he felt as though his Son was hiding something from him. He'd talk to him later.

**Wow, what a chaptery chapter. It's midnight. I'm tired. Please review if you've got a few extra seconds in your busy day, I'd love to hear what you think of my first multi-chapter ^^ Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**DA21: *Sigh* So...How late is this one?**

**Sanji: Over a month.**

**DA21: EHHHH?!**

**Luffy: Hahaha! You've gotta work harder on this stuff!**

**DA21: *In the corner* Please don't kill me!**

**Zoro: I doubt they're gonna kill you…**

**DA21: Please excuse the late chapter!**

After what seemed like the longest shift of his life, Sanji cleaned up his work station, made himself dinner, and walked back upstairs up to his room.

Sanji lied down on his bed and turned on his t.v as he ate. Even though the t.v was on and at a reasonable volume level, the blond couldn't hear anything besides his own thoughts ringing in his ears. 'What if Zeff doesn't like Luffy? What if I'm disowned? What if it interferes with my dream of being a chef?' Sanji thought while absent-mindedly eating the food in front of him.

Just then there was a knock on his door from the very person he was thinking about, Zeff.

"Sanji?" The older man said as he opened the door uninvited, as usual.

"Yes?"

"Are you going to explain why you were at work exactly on time today?" Zeff inquired.

"That's a bit of an odd statement; asking your employee why he was on time to work." Sanji shot back, not removing his eyes from the television despite not paying attention to it in the first place.

"Normally I wouldn't ask, it's the fact that you answered all my questions before without missing fazing or starting something with me or anyone else for that matter."

The Blond took another bite of his food and locked eyes with his adoptive father, but didn't move his head away from the direction of the t.v, "So?"

"So it's out of character and I want to know why you're acting like this all of the sudden. Stop giving me the cold shoulder, it's…different."

"Speaking of sounding different…," Sanji trailed off, not wanting to add an argument to the already annoying conversation.

Zeff opened his mouth to say something to Sanji, but he honestly didn't know what he should've said. Zeff may be a cold hearted bastard on the outside, but he would give his leg for Sanji. He would starve for the kid! So what if he was a little worried for him? Wouldn't every parent be worried if their kid was suddenly acting different?

"Can I just get back to my dinner?" Sanji asked, breaking the older man's silence.

Zeff sighed, "Fine, but we're talking more about this when it's not….midnight…" the older chef trailed off as he glanced down at his watch which read eleven forty six p.m.

Zeff stepped out of Sanji's doorway and closed the only thing separating him and his son…physically. Even though it felt like Sanji was blocking him out with something else, but he'd get to that later.

After Zeff left the room, Sanji slumped back into his pillows. Placing the empty plate to his side, he reached over and grabbed the television remote and turned off the only source of noise left in the small bedroom. The teen walked across the room towards the adjoining bathroom.

After looking at himself (spacing out) and thinking for a few minutes in the mirror, Sanji brushed his teeth and walked back into his bedroom. Where the warm comfort of sleep awaited him.

The blond headed teen awoke to the most annoying sound ever. The sound of Sora Night (1). He picked up his phone and was greeted by Luffy's loud ass voice screaming insults into the phone.

"Dammit Luffy, what the hell!?" Sanji screamed back into the phone.

"Oh, hey Sanji!" The younger yelled, "What's up?"

"O.k, first, you called me. Second, WHY ARE YOU FUCKING SCREAMING AT-," Sanji glanced over at his clock to the left of his bed, "THREE A.M?!" Sanji was thoroughly pissed now, realizing the time.

"Oh, right," Luffy smiled even though he knew Sanji couldn't see him, "I'm watching a football rerun with Ace. You sound-AH! DID I WAKE YOU UP?!" Luffy yelled again, realizing his mistake.

Sanji face-palmed, "OF COURSE YOU IDIOT! IT'S THREE A.M!"

"Sorry!" Luffy said once again with a huge smile plastered on his face, one that Sanji didn't have to see to know it was there.

"Whatever, I'm going back to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow," Sanji stated groggily, pressing end and placing the phone back to the side on his bedside table.

Tomorrow.

**TBC**

(1) I was stuck for an annoying sound to wake up to, so I asked my brother and he said I was an annoying sound to wake up to.. So I just put my name :P

**Again everybody I'm extremely sorry for the late chapter..what I'm doing is awful. DEPRIVING EPIC PEOPLE OF STORIES IS NOT OK! So sorry for the late update. I'm going on vacation for a week on Saturday, I think in my free time I'll try to work on the next chapter or two (considering there's no wifi at my cottage..). I SHALL EXPEL THE WRITERS BLOCK DEMON! Thanks for reading! **


	10. Chapter 10

**Ok, vacation is over now..well, it will be when I post this. As I'm writing it isn't..and is...but whatever. It's one am, you know what that means….Chapter time! Please enjoy~**

Tomorrow

What day was tomorrow?

It'd been the fastest week of his life…week?! Yeah…He broke up with Vivi on Tuesday; Luffy asked him out on Wednesday; Thursday the blond teen was invited to dinner at Luffy's house and the other found out he was lying; Friday was a day of avoidance and agreement; meaning…meaning he agreed to see Luffy on Saturday.

Sanji sighed.

It's not like he minded seeing the other teen outside of school, it's just that he wasn't planning to leave the house Saturday. He was going to relax and…decompress. He liked Luffy, honestly. But anyone who ever met the obsidian haired teen knew how energetic and excited he was all the time. One person can only take so much…

The teen was brought out of his thoughts when he saw a very small black shape move quickly across his face.

A fly.

Well that's annoying, but he figured he'd get it lat-

Sanji was cut off once again when an irritating buzzing commenced, annoying the hell out of him.

He frowned. The damn thing went out of it's way to land on his shoulder and keep it's fucking wings going? Why did there always have to be something to keep him awake? Why?

The blond got out of bed, stirring the fly in the process, and opened the door with a soft creak.

"Shoo, fly," Sanji whispered as he made a gesture to wave the fly out of the room and into the hall. After seeing the menace with wings shove itself out the door (metaphorically, of course), the cook went back and crawled into the warm cocoon that was his bed. Sighing when the blond headed teen attempted and failed to fall asleep several times, he checked the time.

"Three forty seven," the cook groaned and covered his face with his hand. Deciding he should go get a glass of water or some sort of beverage to calm himself down long enough to sleep, Sanji pushed himself off the bed and commenced walking over and opening the door before heading down to the kitchen.

The blond opened the door to the pitch black room but walked in as if it was lightened as he knew his way around.

Pouring himself a glass of water, Sanji turned around to go sit at the table.

The cook turned on the tall lamp that sat next to the table and sat down.

"I can already feel a long day coming on," the teen groaned, setting the now-empty glass down on the table and slouching back into the slightly-uncomfortable chair.

Deciding he should get to bed before his brain decided to bombard him with bad memories or theories about his irrational fears, the cook shuffled his way lazily back down the hall in the direction of his room. While his hand was on the doorknob and ready to enter the room to fall back onto the mountain of warm - possibly now cool - sheets and pillows, he couldn't help but notice the slightly dim yellow light emitting from the door's crack belonging to the room at the end of the hall; Zeff's office.

groaning while letting his head fall back between his shoulders for dramatic effect, the blond walked slowly down the fairly long distance (for a hallway) to turn off the light that his father had so carelessly left on. He pushed to door open to find Zeff with his head down on a mess of papers and pens, sleeping.

Sanji chuckled as he flipped the light off and shut the door. Sighing and lightly shaking his head, the blond made his way back to his room. A long day it would be, indeed.

**Alright, super short chapter. Come at me with your kunais and katanas. I deserve it :c Hope you liked the chapter ^^ Reviewing makes me write faster (aka, they guilt me into writing the day I see them)! Thanks for reading :P**


	11. Chapter 11

Sanji woke up to the sound of his phone ringing annoyingly right beside his ear where he'd dropped it after surfing the internet the night before in attempts to fall asleep. Needless to say, it worked.

The blond teen looked at the caller ID before emitting a noise that sounded in-between a sigh and a grunt as he got up sluggishly and answered the phone, still partly asleep.

"Yo, Luffy. W'sup?"

"SANJI!"

Said teen held the phone away from his ear after nearly being deafened by the other's loud-ass screaming…annoyingly, it was still only nine fifteen am on a Saturday.

"WHAT?!" Sanji screamed back, now pissed due to the fact that he'd not only been woken up early, but he'd also gotten about five hours sleep last night.

"Are you ok? You sound tired," Luffy asked in a confused tone; even though Sanji couldn't see him, he knew the other was wearing one of his 'I-don't-understand-why-you-sound-mad-at-me' faces.

Sanji's eye twitched, "Maybe that's because I just woke up," more twitching, "So, Luffy, why'd you call at nine am on a Saturday?"

"Ah, right. I wanted to know if you still wanted to hang out today," the obsidian haired teen asked in a voice too happy for this time in the morning.

Sanji blinked. He'd forgot about going out with Luffy today.

_'Better than sitting inside all day doing nothing, I suppose.' _ Sanji thought to himself.

"Oh..Yeah, sure. When and where, exactly?" The chef asked, lazily getting up out of bed to get ready for the day and to not look completely dead.

"Hmmm…Do you wanna go to a café? The movies? A pool? Never mind I can't swim. The mall? We could call Nami and-"

"You talk a lot. Pick something from that list and we'll go," Sanji said, pulling on a dress shirt while the phone was tucked nicely between his head and his left shoulder.

"How 'bout two?"

Negotiating with Luffy was not a fun or fair deal. If you agree to one thing, you've basically agreed to ten more things.

Better play it safe for this one.

"No," Sanji said flatly, "One or nothing."

"Pleeeeease, Sanji~~?" The younger teen whined.

"No, Luffy. One thing per day, I'm only one person," the chef stated.

"But we're two people~! How 'bout two things?" Luffy whined on. Good. Now he wouldn't add more things.

"Fine, but only two things. Now, what are they?"

"…" Silence.

"Luffy?"

"Ah…I forget what we're talking about," Luffy said, grin so big you could hear it on the other end.

The older teen face-palmed. He should've known he'd have to decide in the end," Dammit, Luffy…Ok, how 'bout we go to the café and the movies? We can walk there and at least get some fresh air."

"Ok! I'll walk to your place in an hour, see ya!"

"Yeah, ok. See you soon," Sanji said and he hung up the phone, tossing it onto his unmade, messy bed as he walked out of his bedroom and closed the door behind him.

He didn't have any shifts at the restaurant today until ten tonight so he'd probably get back with a few hours to do stuff like take a shower or have some downtime.

The blond walked down the hallway towards the small kitchen at the end of it. Opening the door and seeing that Zeff wasn't in there as he was probably still asleep, the chef began to make himself some breakfast. Just simple stuff. He, like many others, didn't like to do much work this early. In other words, he wasn't a morning person. No matter how much he loved food and cooking, early was early. It was like waking up an architect at four am just to get him to draw a square. Cooking breakfast was easy, being enthusiastic about it wasn't.

Cracking two eggs in a pan perfectly while simultaneously laying bacon in another; the typical American breakfast. Too bad he was in Japan.

Sanji flipped and fried everything to perfection then turned off the heat and began arranging things onto a plate. The dish looked beautiful, and it only took fifteen minutes. That could be record time if you weren't an amazing chef. Sanji probably could have finished that dish in five minutes if it weren't for fatigue slowing his pace this morning. Luffy would be there in about forty minutes, that's enough time to eat, clean up the kitchen, and brush his teeth.

Twenty more minutes later, Sanji was finished eating and cleaning the kitchen and was back off to his bathroom to clean up his mouth so his breath no longer smelt like a mixture of animal products, and morning death.

That only took three minutes.

He still had roughly seventeen minutes before Luffy came to get him. The blond picked up his wallet from his bedside table and walked out to the living room where he could watch t.v until the other came to get him.

Twenty minutes later, Luffy showed up at his doorstep with a huge smile spread across his face and a hand behind his head. Soon after, they left.

At the café, which was just a local coffee shop that people called a café, Luffy and Sanji were seated in the back corner, each drinking their respective brown liquid (Sanji's - a coffee, Luffy's - a hot chocolate) and talking about random things new couples would generally talk about; the basics. Each giving each other a little background story about themselves. The cute little questions were asked: favourite colour, favourite music, favourite t.v show, etc. Then there were a few unconventional questions asked. Stuff like: what's your mom's first name? Or, besides the classes we're in together, what's your schedule? They were kinda running out of questions to ask, really.

After they were done with their drinks, the two teens stepped out of the warm and cozy coffee house and into the cool, crisp October air.

Orange and yellow crisp leaves decorated the path they were on as they strolled through a park on their way to nowhere. Walking aimlessly with no direction was better than rushing to an appointment with haste.

"I work at my family's restaurant, but you know that. Do you have a job?" The blond asked, not looking at the other, but rather choosing to look up at the blue, slightly clouded sky.

"Yeah, sometimes I work at my family's restaurant, too. I can't cook, though. So I just clean stuff when the it closes," the younger teen stated, looking at the same sky the other teen was looking up at.

"That's cool…What's your goal in life?" Sanji suddenly asked, catching the other off-guard for a second.

Luffy regained his composure quickly as he looked to the blond with an enormous grin on his face, simply stating "I want to find the greatest treasure in life."

Sanji stopped walking and turned towards Luffy with a confused look on his face, "And what might that be?"

"I don't know, but I know that once you find it, you're happy!"

Sanji looked at the other for a long moment without expression before his face brightened up and a smirk grew on his face, "That sounds like a great goal, Luffy."

The younger's face brightened up even more, if possible, and he laughed, "Isn't it?"

**Longest chapter yet! And guess what? It's early! This is what happens when my internet is down and I can't watch _Kuroko no Basuke_ -_- Well, a chapter where things kinda happen ^^ I hope it satisfies your reader needs and please take time to review as it encourages early and long chapters like these! Either that, or you could come to my house and unplug my internet…please don't…Thanks for reading.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ok, I'm writing this chapter earlier than I was going to originally because of a very kind reviewer who I told I would update the story soon for (good-guy author). I'm just kidding. But seriously, thank you to the people who take time out of their day to review ^^ Anyway, to the point. My house is being heavily renovated in a few days and I have to completely unpack my room, paint, help replace the floor, go shopping for my new room, and on top of all that, high school is starting back up T-T So I might not be updating this story for a few weeks. But don't worry! I'm not abandoning it, I'm not dead, and I'll try my very hardest not to let a new chapter go unpublished for a month! It was just that one time…Anyway, sorry for ranting. On with the story!**

**-•-**

The two continued to walk down the bright-leaf covered sidewalk in silence until they got to the movie theatre. The movie they were seeing was a horror movie, par the younger's request. The movie wasn't new, the theatre they went to played mostly older movies for those who didn't get a chance to watch them in theatres when they first came out. The movie they watched was called _"The Shining" _and, in both teens' opinions, was pretty damn boring. But hey, they both got a bit of a laugh out of it.

After the movie was over, the two simply laughed at the stupidity of the film and how many pointless scenes that looked like they were shot with iPhones there were.

The two found that they had ended up back at the park they had walked through before they went into the film. Sitting down on the bench, still slightly laughing at a particularly funny comment about the amount of brightly-coloured tricycles in the movie, Sanji sighed. Luffy sat next to him and slightly leaned on the other, suddenly feeling tired despite it only being about two forty in the afternoon, the blond didn't think it was possible for the teen to get tired, but didn't comment on it.

"This is really fun," the younger teen simply stated as he leaned back again both into the bench and further onto the other's shoulder.

"I agree," Sanji started, putting his arm around the obsidian haired teen's shoulder, "We should go out like this more often."

A wide, open-mouthed smile formed on Luffy's face as he glanced up at his boyfriend, "You think so too?!" The younger male rested his head on Sanji's shoulder and giggled.

They stayed on the bench and talked for another fifteen minutes and walked around the park aimlessly for another twenty before Sanji decided he should walk Luffy home for the day.

It was a thirty minute walk from the park to Luffy's house, but to be fair, they were walking considerably slow and taking the longest route they could think of, just to stay in each other's company for a little while longer. Though the blond teen probably wouldn't admit to it, he liked hanging out with Luffy. They seemed to have a few things in common and anything they didn't would strike up conversation. Despite the stunning lack of logic in each conversation, they were still fun. Maybe that's what made it fun.

The two arrived at the doorstep of Luffy's house in what they would consider a short amount of time later.

"I had fun today, thanks for hanging out with me," Sanji said as he smiled sweetly, looking down to his boyfriend with a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks as the other was smiling brightly up at him with that amazingly wide, toothy smile of his.

The obsidian haired teen put his arms around Sanji's back and stood on the tips of his toes to lean up and capture his boyfriend in a chaste kiss.

Sanji blushed and looked away from the younger male, but smiled none the less, ruffling the other's midnight black hair, "I'm gonna go back, I have a shift at ten and I'm running on like…five hours sleep," the blond stated and hugged his boyfriend one last time before descending down the concrete stairs.

**-•-**

Luffy stood in front of the door to his house, smiling as wide as his face would allow, before he unlocked the door and strolled in happily, slightly surprised to see Ace sitting on the couch next to the window, grinning at him with an 'All Knowing' grin and his arms crossed over his chest.

"Had fun on your _date_, Luffy?" The older brother emphasized in a slight mocking tone as he stared down his younger brother who now sported quite a heavy blush on his face as he looked away from his brother, obviously embarrassed.

Ace laughed and got up from the couch, motioning to the other room on the opposite side of the house, "Makino wants you to help out downstairs," referring to the fact he was wanted for work due to the fact they probably didn't expect a dinner rush at four on a Saturday…again.

"Kay~" all annoyance on the younger teen's face had disappeared and he now smiled wide again, "I'm gonna go change, tell her I'll be there in a few minutes," the obsidian haired teen said as he ran up the stairs to his room.

**-•-**

**Ok, short chapter, I know. And I'm leaving it off at a bit of an awkward spot…I know. And I won't be updating for a few weeks…I GET IT! Bring on the kunais! In seriousness, thanks for reading and what do you know, maybe if I get a review here or there I might stop ripping up carpet or painting white walls for a second to write a chapter sooner for the loyal fans ^^ Cookies to readers and Rice balls to reviewers!**


	13. Chapter 13

Dressed and ready, the obsidian haired boy looked at himself in the mirror and ruffled his own hair while a grin spread across his face. Luffy took one last glance into the mirror and ran out of his room and down the stairs towards the kitchen to stop and eat before going to work.

"Luffy!" Makino called from downstairs, which was also the restaurant.

"Coming! Be there in a sec!" The teen yelled back, grabbing an apple off the table and shoving it in his mouth before practically jumping down the stairs towards his family's establishment.

The energetic teen was downstairs in record time and had already finished one hundred percent of his apple. With no leftovers to throw out, Luffy ran up to Makino to help her with whatever she needed him for in the first place, "'Sup?"

"Ah, Luffy," the brown haired woman smiled at said teen then turned back to what occupied her hands previously, "Can you wait tables? We're kind of short on hands," she said smiling over her shoulder.

"Sure," Luffy turned on his heals and walked out of the bar area of the restaurant and into the section with tables. The black haired teen grabbed a white apron off of a rack near the kitchen while on his way over to a booth at the back of the restaurant.

The room had a fairly homey feel to it; it was a place one could definitely imagine regulars at. Usually, the restaurant was filled with familiar faces, but, like in every place, there were always a few newcomers. The bar sat at the front of the restaurant, next to the door to the kitchen, it sat parallel to the doors of the establishment. The entire room was wooden. From vertical logs lining the walls for a cabin-type look, to the wooden floor and partially wooden furniture. The restaurant always had a warm glowing light, nothing harsh, but the place was slightly underground, so there wasn't much natural light from windows. There were windows, but they were almost always covered by long red drapes due to the fact that there wasn't much of a view outside anyway.

"Hey! I'm Luffy," the obsidian haired teen beamed, "You guys ready to order?" The two girls at the table looked to each other and giggled, promptly placing their orders and then whispering about something that their server couldn't hear.

Luffy tilted his head to the side but then straightened himself, smiling, "Okay! I'll go get that for you then!" The teen then went over to the kitchen area to place the orders and the process repeated with the small teen running around the restaurant taking orders, serving, and receiving payments.

One particular thing he'd not been expecting, though, was having Sanji walk into the restaurant mid-way through the younger's shift to eat.

"SANJI!" The black haired teen yelled, disturbing half the diners with the volume.

"Hm? Luffy? You work here?" The blond male asked rhetorically while his boyfriend jumped on him in a one-sided hug, "Guess I should've known, what with it being so close to your house and all."

"Mhmm. Have you been here before?" Luffy asked, practically dragging the other to a booth at the back right side of the place.

"Yeah, like, once. Never seen you here though."

"It's not like I work twenty four seven," the teen shrugged and puffed his cheeks out in a childish manner, his eyes wandering around the room.

"Well, whatever. Go do your job, I don't want to distract you," the older teen responded, waving his hand in a shooing fashion as he looked down to his menu.

"Kay~," and with that, Luffy turned and bounced back to do his job, starting with going back to give the food to the two girls he was serving previously.

The black eyed teen set down the plates of food in front of the two girls with professional care, barely making any noise despite his usual tendency to do things recklessly and sometimes lethargically, sometimes just dramatically.

Luffy was about to walk away and get back to doing what he was doing when one of the two girls piped up, "Um…excuse me…" she said in a slightly timid voice.

Luffy turned around and smiled at her with a beamingly contagious grin, "Mhhm?"

Her friend decided to help her out, seeing as she was too shy to do so herself, "She was just wondering what your name is."

"Ah, my name's Luffy, why do ya wanna know?" Said teen cocked his head to the side implying his curiosity.

When the shyer of the two looked away, her friend decided to speak up again, "She thinks you're cute, is all. Here's her number," the brown haired girl said as she scrawled down ten numbers onto a napkin with a pen she had on hand and held it out to him.

Luffy accepted it as he didn't want to embarrass the girl and he smiled, "Thanks, that's really sweet of you," he placed the girl's number in his apron's front pocket and got back to working, leaving the two, now squealing girls, to themselves.

He walked over to Sanji's booth, pen and notepad in hand, ready to take his order.

"Hey, Sanji! Ready to order?" The raven haired teen asked the older with a bright smile, showing off his white, pristine teeth.

"Oi, what the hell was that?" The blond asked him with slight anger noticeable on his face and in his voice.

"What was what?"

"You got that girl's number, I saw you," Sanji stated as he rested his head on one of his hands, anger still evident in his voice.

Luffy quickly realized what he'd done wrong and he started panicking, "Ah! N-no! I'm not gonna call her or anything! D-don't worry-"

"I'm not worried, shit-head. As long as you're not gonna cheat on me," Sanji smirked and looked over to the table where the two girls sat, noticing they were staring at him and Luffy.

Sanji stood up from the table and kissed his boyfriend, pulling away quickly and ruffling his hair.

"I'm gonna go to the washroom, I'll have a BLT though," the older teen said as he walked past Luffy towards the back of the restaurant glancing to the two girls who stared wide eyed at him. Sanji just chuckled and continued on walking.

Luffy just stood there frozen for a second before smiling and scribbling down the order and walking towards the kitchen.

Good day, good shift.

**Yes! I squeezed a chapter in because packing's been slow, so I have time ^^ Hope you guys liked it! Thanks for reading and remember, cookies to readers and onigiri for reviewers!**


	14. Chapter 14

Waking up was never one of Sanji's strong suits, and, like most people, waking up on a Monday was exceptionally difficult.

The weekend was pretty relaxing, for the most part. Saturday was spent with Luffy on their date, which was pretty energy sucking, whereas Sunday was pretty uneventful for the blond. The day was spent waking up late, chilling in his sleepwear, and watching TV until eating chips and various sweet foods got old and he decided at around five pm that it was finally time to get up and do something productive with his life.

Needless to say, productivity on a lazy Sunday for Sanji included getting his ass off the couch to make more food.

That aside, the weekend turned out pretty well. It was good that the cook had no homework left on Friday because he definitely would have been royally fucked if he did.

The teen rolled himself out of bed and straight onto the cold wooden floor, landing on his face with a thud. Sanji pushed himself up off said bedroom floor and grabbed his phone. Stealing a sleepy glance at the small screen that read eight am, he realized he had about twenty minutes to get ready for the day.

"Man, this is annoying," Sanji groaned, laying his head down on his open text book.

"You know, no matter how much you put it off it's still gonna be there when you're done moping to yourself," came the obviously unwanted response from the Marimo who was sitting across from the other, not bothering to look up from his own textbook.

"I don't think you're helping, Zoro," Nami replied, also not sparing a glance at either of the two from the answer she was scribbling down on her paper.

"I can help you Sanji!" Luffy screamed as he leapt across his own text book and the small, unoccupied patch of grass in the middle of their 'study circle' towards his boyfriend.

"Dammit, Luffy, stop!" Sanji screamed as he tried to wrestle the other male off of him, "We're not even in the same class!" The blond said, finally pushing the other off of him.

Luffy simply pouted and looked in the other direction, causing some of their other friends to laugh at the simple child-like gesture.

It was then that the bell decided to ring, signalling the end of their lunch/ occasional self-created study period and the start of the last three classes of the day.

Sanji shut his geography text book and shoved it roughly into his bag, putting in his binder a little more carefully as well as he slung it over his shoulder.

The blond nodded to his friends and started walking in the direction of the door to get back into the building. He was about to reach for the handle to the large metal and glass doors when his obnoxiously loud boyfriend's voice cut through his thoughts and he turned to look at Luffy who was now slightly jogging towards him.

As soon as the younger teen caught up with the Cook he latched onto his arm and pecked him on the cheek, causing a certain orange haired girl to squeal slightly and the blond to blush slightly.

"I said wait up," Luffy beamed as he stuck out his tongue.

"Yeah, yeah," Sanji said, turning away to hide the red hue staining his cheeks when the younger boy grabbed his hand and walked back into the school with him, talking about getting together after their day ended.

Finally, two thirty rolled around and the final bell rang signalling the end of, what felt like to Sanji, the longest day in the last month.

He and Luffy met up at their usual meeting place beside the entrance of the school; Sanji fishing out a cancer stick from the pocket on the inside of his usual midnight-black blazer.

"Wanna play video games again today?" The younger teen asked, glancing back as he was walking a few steps in front of his boyfriend.

"My house, I assume. I have an early shift today," the blond answered, exhaling what was a long drag from the long white cigarette that hung loosely between his index and middle finger.

"Kay~" was the other's sing-song response as they walked back to Sanji's house.

Sanji laid down on his bed, red controller in hand as Luffy shuffled through his large collection of assorted video games.

Soon after all the shifting and deep-in-thought grunts sounding from the shelf where his games and boyfriend were situated, Luffy plopped down next to him with a copy of _GTA V _ in hand and Sanji raised his eyebrow questioningly at the choice.

"You know that's single player, right?"

"I know," the black haired teen said smiled widely, "I thought we could take turns 'cause I really wanna play this right now."

Sanji was silent for a moment before he smiled (damn, that was contagious), "Fine."

The game was put into the console and thirty minutes later, the room was filled with laughter, yelling, gunshots, and the sound of speeding tires on pavement mixed with the angry wail of sirens.

"Dammit!" Sanji yelled as his car was wedged between a building, a lamp post, and two police cars as bullets flew left and right, causing his inevitable death and the word: WASTED to appear on the screen.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "Ok, you died, my turn now!" he said energetically as he reached for the controller in the other teen's hand, but it was immediately yanked away from him.

"No way! I need to get back at that dick who got me four stars in the first place!" Sanji practically screamed as he re-spawned and got into his black Comet, driving towards the other online player who had shot at him a minute ago.

"Sanji~ That's not fair! You've been playing for fifteen minutes, let me have a turn!" the obsidian eyed teen whined, still trying to grab the controller from the blond's grasp but the other just kept leaning away from him until he was practically lying down on his side.

"No, Luffy, let me finish, dammit!" Sanji yelled again as he attempted to snipe the prick who was now hiding in a bush at the top of a hill, but it proved difficult because Luffy had given up trying to grab the controller from the Cook's hands and was now just full on jumping on him in attempt to wrestle the plastic device out of his grasp.

"No way!" The younger laughed out as he grabbed the controller from his boyfriend's grip and held the controller over himself.

Sanji made a lunge for the controller but then halted his movement when he realized their position; the blond was now lying underneath the black haired teen, one leg bent slightly and resting on the other's hipbone and his right elbow supporting him as the younger hovered overtop. His other hand was outstretched and reaching for Luffy's even though it was far out of his grasp. The younger teen's hand was the only thing supporting himself and it rested a mere few inches away from where Sanji's face would have been had he been lying down completely. Their faces now close enough to feel each other's breaths and needless to say, it was a bit uncomfortable as neither boy knew what to do in the situation.

Neither of the two said anything for a few seconds before Luffy finally climbed off of Sanji and began driving in the Comet again.

Wanting to break the slightly awkward atmosphere, Luffy turned on the car's radio to the _World Wide FM_ channel, and the song "Cold Air" by _The Hics_ soon became the loudest sound in the room, despite the t.v's low volume.

The song did make the atmosphere a little more calming; relaxed. Luffy looked back at Sanji who was now propped up on the palms of his hands and openly staring at Luffy and smirking.

The blond climbed over to where his boyfriend was seated on the edge of the bed before he took the younger's face in the palm of his hand and pulled him into a slow, but heated kiss.

Luffy place the controller off to the side of the bed, without breaking contact with the cook, and threaded his fingers through his golden hair, tugging slightly as he did so.

Sanji turned them around and lightly pushed the raven haired teen back down on the bed so that he was the one on top this time, the force of the kiss slightly pushing the younger teen down further into the mattress.

The Cooked trailed his tongue along Luffy's bottom lip and in return, the raven haired teen opened his mouth to allow the blond further access and to deepen the kiss.

Just when Sanji was about to steer the situation into a much hotter direction, his bedroom door was swung open and an angry looking Zeff stood in the entrance to his room.

"YOU'RE FIFTEEN MINUTES LATE, YOU STUPID BR-" the head chef began until he realized what he'd walked in on. The two teens were still laying in practically the same position, except now they weren't making out and their faces had morphed from expressions filled with lust into expressions that looked slightly terrified, all the while _Cold Air_ was still playing softly in the background.

As if the situation wasn't awkward enough, Sanji soon realized that he'd soon have to go downstairs and work with this man.

All.

Damn.

Night.

_Fuck Mondays._

**Alright! It's been, what, five weeks since I've updated? Well, here's my apology. An extra long chapter. *Throws chapter at you guys and runs* I'm so sorry~~!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Ok, so while nobody's asked me about this or anything I feel the need to say it: I'm home schooled. You may think that's irrelevant but if you're wondering why schedules and stuff are kinda fucked up when I write about their life in school, it's because of that. Just saying. Carry on~~**

Sanji flipped over the piece of steak in the pan before absentmindedly grabbing the red wine by his side. Cooking was his passion, he loved it more than pretty much anything, but after what happened with Zeff earlier, he just couldn't bring himself to put his entire mind to it.

======_Flashback_======

In an awkward situation like this, usually, people would be mortified. Too much to think straight but not enough not to think to move.

Unless you're one of the three idiots that were currently situated in Sanji's room.

Sanji stayed in the same position he'd been in for the past forty-five seconds. If that doesn't seem long enough, count it. It felt _way_ longer than it actually was; to Sanji, anyway.

The blond was brought away from his thoughts by the sound of his father clearing his throat.

"You're late," he began awkwardly, looking away at the door frame- or really, anywhere but the two boys, "Come downstairs when you've shown your…friend out," and with that he left, closing the door behind himself.

Sanji's head fell onto his boyfriend's chest as he silently cursed, "How the hell am I going to explain this?" He mumbled into the fabric of Luffy's gray, oversized hoodie.

Luffy just sighed and leaned his head back into the pillow he was currently lying on, opting to stare at the ceiling in, what looked like, deep concentration, "You should go to work. Can't we deal with this together later?"

The Cook's head lifted from it's spot on the other's chest as he looked into the younger teen's eyes (that had shifted from the ceiling to look at the blue ones that now stared at him).

Luffy pushed himself up and off the bed, Sanji right behind him, and they both walked towards the door.

"Hey, uh…you wanna hang out at my place next time?" The black haired teen inquired, smiling sheepishly as his hand rubbed the back of his neck.

Sanji just chuckled, tossing his head back slightly as he opened the door of his bedroom, "Yeah, that sounds good."

======_End_ _Flashback_======

He'd been working for about two hours now and not one person had bothered him, not even Patty. Sanji guessed it was because they sensed the obvious tension in the air right from the moment an all-too-calm looking Zeff walked back into the kitchen soon followed his silent and passive son.

Finally, Sanji's six hour shift ended. Right from the beginning of his shift (which was supposed to start at three forty-five but instead ended up starting at four) the Cook had felt abnormally tired.

The blond half-dragged himself up the stairs to his room where he guessed he would spend the rest of the night trying and, yet again, failing to fall into the blissful trance that is sleep; his mind plagued with the possible scenarios that could happen when Zeff eventually decides to talk to him about what happened earlier that day.

Though, when the cook got to his room, he realized something.

He could just avoid all of this.

Talking to Zeff may seem inevitable, but even prolonging it would help him think of a rational explanation as to why-

Sanji sighed as he continued walking down the hallway towards his room. There was no need to prolong the situation; no need to hide anything from his father. The truth wasn't actually bad. Shocking, maybe, but he was dating a guy, so what? It wasn't like Zeff had absolutely lost his shit when he found the two…making out…

Sure it was awkward but he didn't seem angry at all, more embarrassed than anything.

Well, as he should be, really.

The door to the teen's bedroom was shut soon after it was opened and the blond all but jumped on his bed. Never had he been through a more tiring day. Well, maybe when he went on his date with Luffy a few days ago...

A few knocks on his door was enough to bring the Cook out of his thoughts.

Was at least few minutes of peace too much to ask for?

"Yes?" Sanji called out, hoping his slightly annoyed tone of voice was enough to make the person -who was undoubtably Zeff- on the other side of the door not want to talk to him.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Came the voice on the other side of the one-and-a-half inch thick wooden obstruction.

Thinking about it for several seconds, Sanji decided if he was going to get this over with, it was better to get it over with now rather than later; "Fine."

The door opened but the Cook only heard it, because in an attempt to partially shield himself from the awkward conversation to come, he'd turned over in bed- away from the door.

After the door closed and the sound of footsteps grew nearer, there was a dip in the mattress where the older of the two had sat down to talk with his son about the topic that wouldn't leave either of their minds that evening.

"Sorry I…walked in on you," Zeff stated, probably quieter than he initially intended.

When Sanji didn't respond, his father took it as a signal to go on, "And sorry I cock-blocked you," that line granted the older chef a stern kick to the side, gracefully delivered by Sanji, of course.

"Ok, ok fine," he started again, "But why didn't you at least tell me?" Zeff asked.

"Tell you what? That I'm into guys? Because I'm not even sure I am," the younger quickly retaliated, desperately wanting the conversation to end.

"I was going to say dating someone, because it didn't really look like you were just hooking up with someone like you usually do," after his father had said that, Sanji's face had hit his pillow in embarrassment. This was _not_ the kind of conversation he wanted to have with his dad. Not now, not ever.

"Why do you care?" Came the teen's muffled voice from the pillow.

"For one, I have no idea who he is."

Sanji propped himself up on one of his elbows and stared at his father, who was, in turn, looking at him.

"Again, why do you care?"

"Because you've been in two serious relationships, both girls that were originally just your friends," was the older man's reply.

"This conversation is getting old," the younger chef muttered as he walked over to open the window located to the right of his bed so he could light up a cigarette.

A slightly uncomfortable pause broke the former flow of conversation as Sanji slowly took drags from his cancer stick and Zeff thought of ways to slightly alter the course of the conversation.

After a few more excruciatingly quite seconds of silence, the older of the two decided to break his son's reverie, "Sanji. Is there a reason you were hiding this from me?"

"I wasn't hiding shit, you're just oblivious," the other spat out angrily.

"Shut up, brat. Don't try to change the subject."

"I'm not changing anything! You were the one who came into my room and started talking about shit we didn't need to talk about!"

"We do need to talk about this stuff. I'm your father, I should at least know somethings about your life," Zeff said, his voice quickly gaining volume but not matching his son's yelling.

Sanji's phone, which sat idly on the bedside table until then, picked that moment to lite up which, when accompanied by the song _'Till it's Over _by Tristam could only mean one thing.

Luffy's calling.

Nice timing.

The blond teen looked over to his father, silently asking for approval to answer the call in the middle of their argument.

"Answer it," was the man's simple statement to the non-verbally voiced question.

Sanji put out his cigarette in the ashtray perched on the windowsill and strode over to the other side of his bed towards the nightstand, effectively answering the call just before it went to voicemail.

"Hey, Luffy," the chef answered with a slightly hushed tone, running a hand through his hair and turning around so he didn't have to look directly at his father, who was now staring curious daggers into the back of his skull.

"Yo, Sanji! Did you talk to your dad yet?" Luffy asked from the other side of the line, voice chipper as ever.

"I am right now," Sanji sighed.

"Ah. I see, HEY, MR. BLACK!" the younger teen yelled at the top of his lungs into the receiver.

"DAMMIT, LUFFY YOU'RE GOING TO DEAFEN ME!" The blond screamed equally as loud as his boyfriend had back into the poor iPhone that was in the middle of the small screaming match.

Zeff smiled at the interaction that he could clearly hear from the volume of both of the boy's voices.

"Look, I'll call you back later, ok?" The Cook sighed again, this day had been way too packed full of shit.

"Ok! Wanna hang out at my place tomorrow? You haven't been here for a while," the black haired teen chirped, a smile obvious in his voice and even though Sanji knew he couldn't see it, he smiled back.

"Yeah. I'll walk back with you tomorrow."

"Yep! See you tomorrow, oh, and Sanji?"

"Yeah?"

"Love ya!"

The cook looked off to the side, hiding his obvious blush from no one in particular, but rather out of habit, "Yeah, love you too."

After all that was said, they bid their goodbyes and Sanji threw his phone down onto his bed as he turned to face his father, but to his slight surprise, Zeff was getting up from his place on the bed and already making his way towards the door.

"Are we done talking now?" The teen asked before he walked back over to the window to lite up another dart.

"Was that him on the phone?"

Sanji shifted, slightly uncomfortable with his fathers sudden change in attitude, "Yeah."

Another pause rung in the air before-

"Be good to him."

With that, the older chef left his son with a click of the once-open door.

The teen's eyes were slightly widened with surprise at the words of his father, but they soon reverted back to their calm state when he looked out of the window at the stars that shone above everything.

Letting out a smoke filled breath, the corner of Sanji's lips turned up slightly, "I will."

**I HAD NO IDEA HOW TO END THIS I'M SO SORRY IT WAS LONG. Well, to be fair, most authors write their chapters this long or longer anyway…NEVER MIND THAT. Cookies to readers and onigiri to reviewers~!**


	16. Chapter 16

A day of school came and went quickly, and soon, the school's newest couple found themselves walking towards the nice little restaurant named Partys Bar.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Sanji asked his boyfriend, who was walking closely beside him- holding his hand loosely in his own.

"I dunno. You like horror movies?"

"You already know I do. Wanna watch one?"

"Why else would I've asked?" Luffy smiled brightly as they walked the rest of the distance back to the younger teen's house, discussing different horror movies most of the way.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-)(~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"We're back!" Luffy yelled to the seemingly empty house, "Everyone's probably working downstairs. What movie do you wanna watch?"

"Something old?"

"How 'bout Paranormal Activity?"

"I thought you said you wanted to watch a horror movie," the Cook joked with a smirk plastered on his face as he took off his coat. The early November air was starting to bite and it was only going to get colder; wearing coats was a good thing to start getting used to before they were demanded by the freezing snow and ice of December.

"Fine. Hmmm…." the black haired teen looked off to the side in deep thought, finger tapping at his chin as he mulled over his options, "The Conjuring?"

"Sure. I've been wanting to watch that," Sanji replied, sitting on the couch in the living room that was only a few steps from the doorway as the younger connected his laptop to the t.v and bought the movie.

After Luffy pressed play on the computer he set it down on the coffee table and went to sit on the couch that was a about foot away. He curled up close to the Chef (who was currently lying down) and said other teen wrapped his arms around the younger.

While neither male had really been in any sort of relationship that involved much movie watching or sweet, cheesy, romantic contact, they both seemed to like the close comfort of each other's presence.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-)(~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

After The Conjuring finished and both teens were sufficiently shaken up by the multiple jump-scares the movie handed out, they both mutually decided that something a little more dimmed down would be nice. And while watching Totoro on his boyfriend's couch was definitely not how Sanji planned to spend his Tuesday evening, he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it.

By the time they'd watched four movies total, it was well past nine o'clock and both boys were passed out on the sofa in the same position they'd been in for hours; Sanji spooning Luffy on the small, black leather couch with the blond's arm slung haphazardly across the younger's torso.

But just because the two high schoolers had been in the same place for multiple hours didn't mean addition of Ace and his camera phone weren't present.

After a quick picture was snapped of the lovebirds Ace jumped up off of the chair situated across the couch, laughing quietly to himself as he jogged back downstairs to the restaurant so he could explain to Makino why Luffy couldn't make it to work.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-)(~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

"Oh! Ace! Where's Luffy?" Makino questioned with slight irritation due to the fact that the help she needed didn't come to her aid.

"I didn't wanna wake them up," Ace smirked, flashing the screen of his phone in her direction.

"I don't- Aw~!" The bartender said as she grabbed her son's phone to get a better look at the adorable picture.

Makino sighed in a mixture of slight defeat and contentment, a smile never leaving her face, "Fine, but you have to cover your brother's shift," she giggled and tossed a sorta-dirty dish towel at him, making the freckled teen whine and throw his head back as he trudged his way over to the dining area to clean off the dirty tables.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-)(~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Sanji woke up with a stiff neck and his arm still slung around his boyfriend. Groaning lowly as he propped himself up on one arm, he nudged the younger still-asleep teen in a feeble attempt to make the other male suffer the same lethargic awake state that he had to go through.

"Yo, Luffy. Wake up."

Said male stretched soon after, sighing as he tried to shake the sleep off.

Sanji reached into his back pocket, pulling out his cell phone which read ten forty six pm. They'd been lying there in the same position for almost eight hours. The blond absolutely did not like the promise of an incredibly sore neck that that fact came with.

He also didn't like the idea of getting back home at night in the freezing November air without a car.

"Hey, Luffy; can I stay here tonight?" The Cook asked, sitting up and stretching himself.

"Hm? Oh, Sure," the other responded.

There was a silence that hung in the air after that was said, both boys sitting straight up on the couch with their feet flat on the floor, staring off at the wall parallel to the couch.

Soon after realizing what'd been said and what it could've implied out of context, they both blushed heavily and looked in the opposite directions of one another. But both Sanji and Luffy quickly whipped their heads around in the other direction, now facing each other and in synch with the other's movements.

"I-I, uh, didn't mean it like that!" The blond corrected, holding his hands up in defence and leaning back into the left armrest of the couch.

"Yeah! I know, i-it's fine!" the younger mirrored his body language with his hands, also leaning against the opposite armrest.

Things got silent again after that for a few moments, but the black haired teen finally broke the streak of awkward lack of conversation.

"So…I'm still tired. You wanna go to sleep now?" Luffy asked- and it was the truth. Even though the usually extremely energetic teen had just taken an hour and a half long power nap, he was exhausted. Probably from lying down for so long.

"Yeah, sure."

They walked up to Luffy's bedroom, Sanji behind the younger male as they both ascended the narrow staircase in file.

Reaching the bedroom was a bit awkward considering the tenant of the bedroom had forgotten that the only remotely comfortable furniture in the room was a double sized bed and a small chair in the corner of the room.

"Ah. Uh, you can take the bed if you want.." Sanji trailed off, putting his hand behind his head and looking off to one side.

Luffy just closed the door and shrugged at the comment, "If I did, where would you sleep?" The teen stated as he sauntered over to his bed and got under the thick, winter grade duvet, "Get under," he said, patting the spot next to himself.

Sanji stared at his boyfriend for a second in a slightly surprised and confused manner, but soon a smirk split across his face and he walked over towards the bed that his boyfriend was currently occupying and crawled in himself.

The two boys lay facing each other; their bodies' furthest distance was roughly six inches but their legs were entangled and their foreheads were touching. The Cook took the initiative and intertwined his left hand with Luffy's right so that they could lie their heads on their other arms.

"Love you," Luffy said sweetly, his smile widening.

Sanji smiled in return, "Love you too," he said as he leaned in, the other leaning in as well, meeting his boyfriend in the middle to kiss him chastely.

They broke apart after only a few seconds as they settled back down into the soft memory-foam mattress, falling asleep soon after. Smiling.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-)(~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

**Yay~! New chapter update (and it didn't take two months this time!) Thank you for reading~ Cookies to readers and onigiri to-**

**Luffy: Why always cookies and onigiri? What's wrong with meat?**

**DA21: I'm vegan…**

**Luffy: GET. OUT.**

**Whatever. THANKS FOR READING!**


	17. Chapter 17

Wednesday started out pleasant for the couple. The two teens awoke in practically the same position they had fallen asleep in the night before; facing each other and holding hands loosely. The two smiled at one another but soon Sanji's eyes widened as he realized it was a school day and that neither of them had set alarms the night before. The blond hurriedly flipped himself over and checked his phone, relieved when he saw the clock on it only read seven thirty and they were actually up early for a change (probably due to the nap they took yesterday).

Luffy, after being told they weren't royally fucked time-wise, rolled over into a sitting position; his feet flat on the floor. Sanji did the same and they both got up to get dressed for their day.

"Wait, I didn't bring any cloths with me," Sanji said, turning to look at Luffy.

"You could borrow some of Ace's?" The reply came as more of a question rather than a statement.

"Would he be cool with that?"

"I dunno, probably," Luffy said, pulling on some well-fitting navy blue jeans and a red sweater that had a P!ATD logo printed in white across the front.

With a shrug, Sanji turned away from his boyfriend, looking towards the nightstand that still held his phone. He grabbed the small device and turned back to face the other who was now standing ready at the door, his face split with his large, signature grin.

"Let's go get breakfast!" Luffy said as he practically jumped out the door, the blond following after him with an amused chuckle.

They stopped by Ace's bedroom on their way down and ended up stealing a pair of Levi's, a grey Aeropostale teeshirt, and a black zip-up hoodie from his dresser, seeing as the said teenager wasn't in his room at the time.

Soon after they'd descended down the stairs they were greeted by the practically heavenly smell of bacon and eggs. They crossed the living room and made their way into the kitchen where Makino was just setting the plates of food down on the table.

It didn't even matter that no one knew Sanji stayed over, anyone cooking in that household always made ten times the amount of food needed anyway for the two bottomless pits they lived with.

Luffy sat down at one of the many unoccupied seats surrounding the table and Sanji sat beside him, since nobody was really awake yet and Ace was the only other person at the table.

Not long after the two sat down, Shanks and Garp joined the table and Makino set the last plate down, seating herself down as well. After everyone thanked Makino for their breakfast they began eating; immediately a silence fell over the room, deterred only by the sound of forks against plates.

Luffy was the first to finish his breakfast, completely oblivious to the slightly awkward atmosphere that hung over the table if his smile was any indication.

"Be right back," he said as he walked down the hall towards the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself.

To Sanji, the situation he was in felt similar to that of being a cornered animal; It was as though all eyes were on him, scrutinizing him, though nobody was really looking at him but Ace.

"So, how was your night with my brother?" Ace remarked, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, almost causing the blond to choke on his food.

"Vanilla, thanks for asking," the Cook retorted with something akin to anger in his voice, glaring in the other teen's direction only to get a smug smirk in return.

"Oh? Vanilla se-," Ace was cut off mid-sentence by his mother elbowing him in the stomach, "Mom! Come on!" The raven whined, coughing a bit before regaining his composure and glaring daggers at the now grinning blond.

"We're eating, Ace, don't be rude," Makino scolded.

Luffy came back a few moments later, causing those at the table to fall into another uncomfortable silence- Sanji picking at his food more than he ate it.

"Sanji…is that my shirt?"

"Hey, Luffy, you wanna come chill at my house today? You've been hanging around that damn cook so much I barely ever see you anymore."

"I see you in class, Zoro," the younger responded, looking over at the Marimo in a confused fashion, "But sure!"

"You realize we don't actually hang out in class, right? You probably talk to Nico-sensei more than you talk to me."

"Doesn't mean I don't talk to you…" Luffy mumbled under his breath.

Zoro just chuckled at the comment, ruffling his friend's hair and continuing to walk to his next class.

"Hey, Luffy, I can't hang out today. I have a really early shift at work," Sanji said, shoving his books into his locker before slamming the broken door shut.

"S'ok, I'm hanging out with Zoro today," the younger teen said with a smile as he pecked his boyfriend on the cheek, eliciting some excited squeals from a group of girls across the hall from them.

"Tch, I don't understand how you can converse with Marimos," the blond all-but spat, ignoring Luffy's laughter at the comment.

"Oh, come on. You know he's fun to be around!" He responded, still laughing.

"About as much fun as hanging around with moss can be," Sanji said, only fuelling Luffy's mirth.

Between the talk of green headed kendo players and a certain teen's loud laughter the two somehow managed to tune out the loud, angry footsteps headed their way.

They did notice the other presence, however, when a flash of bright pink hair walked in between them.

"Hm? Bonney?" Sanji asked, slightly surprised at her sudden presence.

Said girl was still standing in between the two boys, wearing a rather angry expression.

"You broke up with me for him?!" She practically screamed, Sanji stepping back as she stepped aggressively towards him.

"I just didn't want to be with you anymore, me going out with Luffy really has nothing to do with it."

"We were meant for each other!"

"You were meant for the food I cooked. You barely ever came over unless it was to clean out my fridge!" They glared at each other, the yelling getting increasingly louder.

"How can you say that?! We're so perfect for each other!" Bonney crossed her arms, her eyes becoming wet with tears.

"Stop telling me who I like because it isn't you!" Sanji growled at the pinkette, walking past her and grabbing Luffy's hand to drag the both of them away from the situation.

"Come back! We're not done talking!" She hollered after them, though not really making much of an effort to chase them.

"I'm more than done with you!" The blond yelled back, letting go of his boyfriend's hand and instead draping his arm over the other's shoulder as they continued to walk in the direction of the doors.

"She's such a bitch," Sanji mumbled angrily under his breath.

"Bet she can't beat my appetite," the raven shrugged and the Cook laughed.

"You may be right."

The couple walked of the school and kissed each other good bye before parting ways; Luffy staying behind to wait for Zoro and Sanji walking home.

Luffy and Zoro decided to go to a diner they used to hang out at a lot before heading back to the older teen's house. The diner, called The Sunny, was a quaint burger joint that had a nice, homey aura and was decorated similarly to how a fifty's diner would've been. Both boys agreed that while fast food places were good as a quick place to grab lunch, you'd never really enjoy the food like you would at a place like this- a place that actually _cared _about what's in their dishes. One of the waiters, wearing a pastel blue coloured apron, took their orders and headed off, coming back with their food within ten minutes. Just another thing to love about a small establishment, fast service.

While eating their burgers they talked about various things ranging from things like club activities to job schedules, neither of them really giving each topic much thought until one question caught Zoro's attention.

"So you're graduating this year, right? Where're you gonna go?" Luffy asked, mid-bite.

After a few minutes of thought, the green haired man finally replied, "I don't actually know. Maybe I'll go to college."

"Sanji's graduating too.." the younger commented with a sad tone.

"You've been dating him for less than a week. I think you'll live. Be sad for me, you've known me longer," Zoro said with a half smile as he continued to eat his food at a much slower pace than the other.

Luffy laughed and they finished up their meals, paying on their way out and walking back to Zoro's house at a relaxed pace, enjoying the slightly warmer yet still cool air that chilled their lungs when they inhaled. For the raven haired boy, it was sad to imagine that Sanji would be graduating before him. Even if they had been going out for less than a week, Luffy liked him long before that. It would be very different without his best friend and boyfriend around him all the time, even if he would only have to last a year of high school without them.

But that's a bridge he'd cross in a few months. Enjoying now for now was what was important.

**Yay! Another chapter ^^ Thanks so much to aelmer6 for betaing this! Reviews highly appreciated as they encourage fluffy disasters :3 **


	18. Chapter 18

A month did pass and Christmas neared. And after having to buy different gifts for all of his friends and his father, Sanji was faced with a challenge: Buying Luffy's gift.

Purchasing a gift for the one you love shouldn't be hard. After over a month of being together, three dates, and spending at least three nights a week together, you'd think Sanji would know what to buy his boyfriend. But there was a problem to thinking you know someone well; what if you don't know them like you thought you did? What if you get them the wrong thing? Or they get you something better than what you got them? Not only that, they hadn't been dating for so long as to get each other extremely personalized gifts, what if he messes up? The pressure of being in a relationship and buying your other gifts was always a struggle for the teen, but he never had to worry about it long.

Get a girl the necklace she wanted she'll freak out and fall all over you.

Sanji highly doubted Luffy would do the same.

The blond wandered around the crowded mall, sticking close to the angelic orange haired girl who came along with him to make sure he didn't screw up royally on the gift buying trait.

"Well, you're the one who spends the most time with him, what do you guys do beside make out?" Nami inquired, smirking when Sanji became flustered at her words.

"Play video games, watch movies…talk," the blond mumbled, looking off to the side to conceal his reddening features.

"Talk about your feelings? Aw~!" The girl practically sang as she laughed at the thought of the womanizing chef talking about his feeling with his boyfriend.

Sanji shoved his face into his hands, groaning at his friend's embarrassing means of torture. "Can we just find something and leave?" The cooks muffled voice came through almost inaudibly through the many people in the area and his large grey sweater.

Nami only laughed once more and pulled him into the store they were loitering outside of. A cloths shop didn't seem like the perfect place to shop for your boyfriend whose only thoughts are concerned with food and fun, but it was worth a try.

"American Eagle?"

"What? Everyone likes cloths."

Sanji said nothing. It was pointless to try to change Nami's mind anyway. The two teens walked into the store and split up, agreeing that if they found something their friend may like, they'd tell the other and leave. And it honestly did seem like a good idea, until Sanji found Zoro. And with Zoro was, of course, Luffy.

Oh, well. Shopping could wait for the moment.

Sanji slowly backed away and slid behind a shelf close to where the other two were positioned, trying to listen to their conversation over the sounds of annoying valley girls screaming and talking louder than seemingly necessary.

"Would he really like something from here? He seems too high end for this crap," Zoro said. casting a sceptical glance at the hipster clothing lining the shelves and racks.

"I don't know! That's why I asked you for help~" the younger whined, "I asked you if you knew any stores he might like and you walked here!"

Sanji chuckled breathlessly; just thinking what kind of shops the Marimo could've dragged Luffy to because he got lost and was too proud to admit it made him want to laugh.

"Well, why not get him something food related? Isn't he a chef?"

"He might think I just want him to feed me! That's a terrible Christmas present, Zoro," Luffy barked, puffing his cheeks out in indignation.

The fact that they were both stressing out over what to get each other put Sanji's mind at ease a bit. At least he wasn't the only one worrying that he wouldn't get the right thing.

The blond left his hiding place and turned back to the other side of the small store to find his orange haired friend. As expected of her, Nami was calmly 'negotiating' her ridiculous price drop ideas with a young and nervous-looking cashier who didn't really look like he knew what was going on.

Sanji sighed as he pulled on the girl's arm, apologizing to the kid working cash and walking away with her in tow.

"I think we should look somewhere else," the cook said as he continued to lightly drag his shopping companion out of the store and in the direction of the middle of the mall.

"Why? You know what you're gonna get him?" Nami asked, tugging her arm away from his grasp so she could walk freely.

"I think. We'll see."

ººººººººº•••ººººººººº

Luffy groaned as he threw down another oversized woollen sweater, leaving Zoro to once again fold the mess of the clothing he was making.

"There's nothing to get him! He's impossible to shop for!" The raven whined dramatically and rather loudly, dragging his feet across the floor and tilting his head back towards his shoulder blades.

"Maybe you're just not looking hard enough." Both teens were tired. They'd been at the shopping centre all day getting last-minute presents for everyone and Sanji was the last person to buy for. But with tired feet and two days 'till Christmas Eve, there was hardly time to call it a day and save this part for later.

Luffy suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and looked down to the ground.

"Hm? Luffy?" Zoro asked, a confused tone lacing his words.

Said male snapped his head up and looked heartbrokenly at his best friend, tears stinging the corners of his eyes.

"I don't even know what to get him! What if he doesn't like whatever I get?!" Luffy yells, catching the attention of a few passersby, although no one really payed them much attention.

Zoro winced at the volume of his friend's voice, hoping they wouldn't make a scene seeing as he really just wanted to leave.

Shopping sucks.

"Hey, hey, I'm sure he'll like it. As long as it's from you it'll be fine," the older tried to comfort Luffy, his oh-so-great people skills not exactly shining in this type of situation.

Though he wasn't very good at comforting others, Zoro's words seemed to seize the other male's tears and yelling almost instantly. That probably only worked on Luffy, though.

The Marimo sighed, leaning back against a wall that was in-between two shops. "Like I said before, the guy's pretty classy. Get him something he would always use or wear."

Luffy's face scrunched up in thought for a second before lighting up. Grabbing Zoro's hand, he started stalking towards the map standing in the middle of the concourse.

"Know what you're gonna get him?" Zoro smiled.

"I think so, let's see."

ººººººººº•••ººººººººº

On Christmas eve, Sanji and Luffy both had to stick around with their families for dinner After the meal, the older of the two walked over to the Monkey's household. After walking for twenty minutes in the calm quiet of the December snow, indulging in the way the wide, but delicate crystals drifted from their short-lived home in the sky down to his face and the ever-growing, white, snow-covered ground below, Sanji reached his boyfriend's house. He gave three knocks to the wooden door, before retracting his reddened hands and shoving them back into his pockets, keeping the string of the gift bag he'd brought around his left wrist.

The door abruptly swung open inwardly and, dressed only in dark grey sweats a red tank, Luffy jumped out of the warm house and onto Sanji. Forcing the blond back a few steps, but thankfully not down the ice-sheeted steps below. Despite the danger he felt he may've been in, Sanji just laughed at the other's playful behaviour. Savouring the warmth it brought to be hugged when still surrounded by a below-zero weather.

"Come inside! I wanna give you a present!" The raven announced happily as he let go of the older male and ran back into his house towards the living room.

Sanji's smile remained on his face, not displaying the still present anxieties of giving his seemingly rushed and unthoughtful gift to his boyfriend who was so excited to give him his present. The blond shook his head in attempt to rid his head of the disheartening thoughts while he stripped himself of his thin grey coat and his now soggy shoes. He walked over and plopped himself down on the couch they'd spent so much time on together previously; staring at the beautifully decorated and lit up evergreen tree that sat on the right side of the room, in the corner by the window.

The entire room had a very warm, wintery, Christmas feel to it. The fireplace situated to the right of the mounted-wall television was lit and washing a comforting orange glow over the room; the tree was decorated with a multitude of different coloured baubles and popcorn garlands- all placed evenly around the small lights adorning it. The balls that hung from the branches and the tinsel that wrapped around and nestled in the needles both reflected the glimmering bulbs of the Christmas lights. The snow fell steadily outside the slightly-fogged glass panes of the bay window and showed no signs of stopping. It was almost nine at night and all Sanji wanted was to have a calm evening with the other male.

With the atmosphere, that might happen.

Luffy grabbed a small box, about the length of his hand, wrapped in green wrapping paper that had a design of decorated trees, wrapped presents, and other various Christmas themed items on it. He pushed the package onto the blond's lap and sat down on the sofa beside him.

"Merry Christmas, Sanji," Luffy beamed, showing off the large smile that had quickly grown on the Chef.

Sanji gingerly unwrapped the well-done taping job that simply could not have been done by the raven. The box on the outside gave away what the gift was but it was pretty well suited to him. His favourite cologne. He'd worn a few different scents over the years but his all-time favourite had been this brand. Though, he'd never worn it around Luffy before so either the other male had stalked him when he did or he had pretty good guessing-skills. He chose to believe the latter.

The blond smiled and draped his arm around Luffy's shoulders, leaning in and kissing him softly on his lips; earning another bright grin from his boyfriend that was sure to bring the burning fire to shame.

"You like it?"

"Yeah. This is my favourite cologne. Thank you."

Something akin to a sigh of relief left the younger's mouth. Probably glad he didn't screw up.

Luffy grabbed the box from Sanji and opened it. Uncapping the bottle and spraying some of it's contents onto the Cook. Sanji sighed and grabbed it from the other's grasp and set it down on the table, smiling and silently hoping his own present was okay. He grabbed the simple red gift bag from behind the armrest of the couch and gave it to Luffy.

Said teen looked inside the bag and instantly his eyes lit up, focused on the unnecessarily large amount of Pocky in about ten different varieties. Sanji remembered Luffy once saying he loved Pocky and wanting to try every flavour of the treat. It was a start.

"Sanji~!" Luffy almost-yelled and hugged the older teen, who breathed his own sigh of relief knowing that his gift was appreciated by the recipient and hugged him back.

Similar to what Luffy did when Sanji said that he'd like the gift given to him, the blond picked up the red box of Pocky that'd fallen onto the floor along with several other boxes when the younger glomped him and tore open the top, pulling out a chocolate covered biscuit. Sanji put the tip of the sweet in his own mouth and held it there. After a couple of seconds, Luffy realized what he was waiting for and blushed, looking off to the side before turning back determined and biting the opposite end of the stick, red still staining his face slightly. Sanji leaned in and slid his teeth along the end of the Pockey, careful not to drop it when he bit down and broke its end off. Luffy mimicked his motions until they were merely millimetres apart; the gap closing when the two of them leaned into each other and met in the middle.

Sanji pressed insistently, but still gently into the other, Luffy allowing himself to fall back flat against the couch. The blond didn't break the kiss but instead pressed himself flush against his boyfriend. The raven's arms circled around his neck and held him close. Both males smiled into the kiss then parted for air, the blond's head going to rest on the younger's shoulder as they both lay there, content and slightly tired, letting sleep take over them slowly.

"Merry Christmas, Luffy." Sanji whispered into his boyfriend's black hair before they both passed out.

_Merry Christmas._

ººººººººº•••ººººººººº

**Happy Holidays, everyone! Thank you to aelmer6 for betaing, especially so close to Christmas!**


	19. Chapter 19

While the holidays were fun and everyone wanted their winter vacation to last for the rest of high school, all good things had to come to an end. The New Year had already come and many wished for a happy one; hoping that twenty fifteen might just turn out better than the year prior. After the fun and lingering high of time-off faded, school became a prominent reality and work kept everyone busy right through to the spring months and well into June.

Luffy and Sanji saw less and less of each other due to their conflicting schedules, school projects, work shifts, and copious amounts of homework; but that didn't mean they didn't still hang out when they had the time. Despite not being able to see one another as often, the two boys made it a point to converse via text at least once a night. Even if it was a simple conversation asking how the other's day went, or what they should do on their next date, it was still something. Luffy felt reluctant not to spend every moment he had left with the blond because in just a few more days, Sanji and Zoro would be graduating high school and going off to college or uni, leaving him to endure another year of the academic and social pressures of an institute. Though this time, he'd be alone.

However, school wasn't Luffy's main concern. He would still have a few friends and teachers to hang out with during lunch or in his breaks- people to help him study or to just to chill with. His real real concern was the fact that Sanji was going to be leaving the place where they could see each other in the halls and after school practically whenever they wanted. The chef had already decided he was going to go to a culinary school a ways away from where their high school and current homes were. He was going to buy an apartment near his campus. And he was going to meet new people.

People the raven didn't know.

What Luffy feared most was the possibility that Sanji was going to leave him for some pretty girl he might meet in college- for someone he didn't know. His boyfriend would have the easy opportunity to cheat on him and unless he was told that he did- Luffy would never know. But Sanji wouldn't do that...right?

On a Saturday, when both teens were finally free from all projects due, they went on their first date in over two months. While Luffy should have been ecstatic from actually getting time to spend with the other male, he found that he couldn't be all that excited knowing the only reason they didn't have another project backing the previous one was because the school year was almost over and soon everyone would have to start studying for finals.

They sat down on a park bench. The same park bench that they had been at on their first date. The only difference was that the trees were no longer near barren and the ground wasn't littered with a colourful assortment of dead leaves.

The older teen's hand slipped discreetly into the other's, Luffy squeezing lightly to show affection. They sat like that for a while, staring at the clouds slowly drifting in and out of their view between the small forest surrounding them. Luffy rested his head on Sanji's shoulder, the blond leaning into him as well as he rested his head on the other's.

They would both miss these moments. Just being content with small touches or sitting in a silence that wasn't awkward, but instead relaxing and comforting. Luffy sighed, would a long distance relationship actually work between them? It wasn't as if their relationship was purely physical (in some sense, not at all), but it was always nice to be able to lean on someone when you need it. To have them hold you and calm you down with sweet words. The thought that they'd been together for months and it was all going to change in just a few short weeks was practically heartbreaking to the younger teen. It seemed so fragile, love can be so easy to corrupt. And a heart can be so easy to break.

What if Sanji broke his heart? What if he left him for someone else? Cheated on him? He could trust Sanji, though. He wouldn't do anything to hurt his boyfriend. They'd been together for long enough, he knows him well enough to know that now…right?

Luffy's eyes became watery, a few stray tears manifesting into drops and falling away from his eyes from their own weight, landing on Sanji's shirt. Said male, noticing his shirt becoming increasingly more damp by the second, looked down to see a red-eyed Luffy softly sobbing into his shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sanji asked as he held the younger of the two's shoulders and turned to face him, a concerned expression on his face.

"I-I'm gonna miss you s-so much," the raven choked out between hiccups.

Sanji pulled him into a tight hug, resting his chin on Luffy's head and petting his hair with one hand while Luffy curled up against his chest and continued to cry. Sighing, Sanji held the raven a bit tighter, he didn't want to leave his boyfriend either. While he was so adamantly against dating another male before, he wouldn't trade it for any one of his past girlfriends. Luffy was so different from them. He was nicer, for one. He didn't just want his food or to sleep with him. He genuinely cared for the other. His smile and texts would always brighten up his day. Leaving him wasn't something Sanji wanted to do, whether it was leaving him for college, or leaving him and the relationship they had.

Luffy's crying stopped after a few minutes but Sanji didn't let go of him, the blond continued to hold him until the other fully relaxed into his touch. The raven wrapped his arms around the older and rested his head back onto his shoulder.

"Sorry, I got your shirt wet."

"It's fine." They returned to their silence for a few more minutes, neither really knowing what to say to break it. Though, even though there was a heavy weight in the air, the in silence still remained comfortable for both of them.

"Sanji?"

"Hmm?"

Luffy sucked in a deep breath before sighing and shoving his face further into the blond's shoulder, "Don't leave me…" he whispered, barely audible, and Sanji's hold only tightened as he kissed the top of his head.

"I won't." Even though it sounded like the younger was asking him not to move away, they both knew that wasn't what he was saying.

The grad ceremony came all too quickly for Luffy's liking and soon he was sitting in the crowd of his best friend's and boyfriend's convocation. Luckily, the ceremony only lasted _three and a half freaking hours_ and the teen only almost nodded off about ten times. But shortly after he managed to shake sleep off for the eleventh time, the ending of the ceremony was announced and everyone applauded.

"Congratulations," Luffy said as he and Sanji made their way to the car, planning to skip the after party in favour of spending some quality time together.

"Thanks."

Once they got back to Luffy's house, they did the same routine that they always did when they wanted to spend time but were to lazy to leave the house. Luffy plugged in his laptop to the television and opened up Safari, the pair watching Miyazaki movies until they both finally fell asleep spooning each other.

_One week left._

**Short chapter, I know. But I think this story needs some plot. So, thanks to my beta, it's going to get some. Thank you aelmer6 for betaing among other things :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**_Sunday_**

They'd had a week left together in that school. An entire week. Neither of them thought seven days could pass so quickly but here they were, lying in Luffy's bed on Sunday night; the night before summer vacation would begin.

Sanji stroked Luffy's hair methodically, threading each strand through his thin fingers until he ran out of length, at which point he would repeat his action. The younger boy hummed in agreement at the soft gesture and leaned in to peck his boyfriend on his mouth. Even with the vail of blackness that surrounded them due to the lack of light, Luffy could still make out the relaxed features of the other male's face.

"We still have all of summer vacation to spend with each other, though…right?" The raven questioned, his voice muted as he had his face buried in-between Sanji's neck and shoulder.

Sanji sighed languidly, shifting his position to hold the younger boy tighter against his chest, "Yeah, I still have to work over the summer, but we won't have school to worry about anymore."

Luffy hummed again tiredly, finally allowing his eyes to slip closed as he pushed himself further into the warmth that was Sanji. The two of them drifted off to sleep shortly after, tangled in a mess of limbs and blankets.

-Earlier in ∞ the Week-

**_Saturday_**

It was Saturday– a time to waste time. A time to pointlessly mope around your house and whine about having nothing to do until someone gets tired of you and tells you to do chores. Luffy dragged his feet behind him as he forced himself down the stairs and across the house to the kitchen.

"Aaaaaaaccceeee~" Luffy drew out his brother's name when he saw him standing in the small, dimly lit room.

Ace looked over at his half-asleep (despite it being eleven a.m.) brother standing in the doorway, humming in response to his whine.

"I'm bored!" The teen shouted, still pouting as he pulled himself into one of the empty chairs in the dining room.

"Hmm? What's Sanji doing today?" Ace questioned, not looking up from his phone as he smiled to himself and replied to a text.

"He's working," Luffy replied with a saddened and slightly overly-dramatic tone as he slumped in his chair and rested is head in his arms on the table.

"Go see him, then. You're always so happy when he comes to see you when you're working, you should return the favour."

Ace chuckled when out of the corner of his eye he saw Luffy's ears perk up like a dog's.

"I'M GOING OUT!" Luffy shouted from the front door after bolting from his place in the kitchen.

"Luffy, wait!" Makino shouted after him, just after she heard the door slam, "Was this your idea?" She asked, turning to Ace.

Ace held up his hands, sliding his chair back away from his mother slightly in surrender.

"Fine then. You're covering his shift. Be downstairs in ten minutes," Makino said, turning and walking back down the stairs towards their restaurant.

Ace groaned, but trudged his way to his room to get dressed all the same, "You owe me one, Luffy," he mumbled quietly to himself.

**_Sunday_**

Sanji awoke to the angry glare of the early morning sun that just barely made its way through the crack in his window's white curtains. Glancing over at the clock, he saw that the time read ten forty. Twenty minutes to get ready for the day. The day before, when Luffy had suddenly showed up at the Baratié and followed him around until he forcefully pushed him up the stairs and told him to play video games until his shift was over, he had promised he'd hang out with him the next day. Why? Because it was probably inevitable anyway.

The blond made his bed and threw his usual attire on– a well-fitting navy blue sweater and a pair of whitewashed skinny jeans– before he left his room to finish the rest of his daily morning routine. It wasn't that he didn't like spending time with his boyfriend, it was just that too high a dose of that much energy could cause tachycardia or something.

Finally finishing taming his morning appearance with a final brush of a comb through his blond hair, Sanji sauntered out of the bathroom and off towards the kitchen.

Luffy had arrived within the hour and the activity they had agreed on was soon decided: cooking lessons. This was, obviously, a complete failure and Sanji had to clean the kitchen over five times to get it back to normal. It was completely worth it, though, to him, because he got to see the one he loved most smiling and laughing brighter than ever.

**_Monday_**

"So, what are you guys planning to do over the summer?" Nami asked her plastic fork just a few inches away from her mouth.

"I don't know, maybe I'll go visit my secret family in Berlin," Usopp said, proudly smiling at his bold-faced lie.

Of course, a few members of their group were impressed, as always, but one of the usual victims to the long nosed teen's lies wasn't as affected as he usually was. A solemn-faced Luffy got up from the table, excusing himself, walking back into the school and towards his locker, Sanji following closely behind.

"Luffy! Oi! Wait up," he said as he reached for the raven's arm, grabbing it and tugging so that they were facing each other, "What's up?" He asked, concerned.

"I…don't want it to be summer yet," Luffy said, eyes downcast, "You and Zoro won't be here anymore soon."

Sanji sighed, leaning against a nearby locker and pulling his boyfriend in close to his chest, hugging him tightly, "We still have all week and all summer to spend together. Let's just be happy 'til the moss-head and I have to go, okay?"

The younger teen buried his face into the other's shoulder, grumbling out an, "Okay," and walking back outside to join their friends for the rest of lunch.

Sanji seriously hoped all summer wouldn't be like this.

**_Tuesday_**

Zeff was working.

Patty was working.

_Luffy_ was working.

He wasn't working.

The blond chef had spent his entire afternoon trying to think of possible activities to fill his day with, but with the lack of work, school having finished hours ago, and all his friends either working or otherwise occupied dong other things, he was alone and bored as hell.

He could cook, but he'd just eaten and wasn't hungry. He could watch TV, but there was really nothing good on on Tuesday at five p.m. He could clean, but there really wasn't anything that _needed_ to be cleaned. He could go to a mall, but just because he had good taste in fashion didn't necessarily mean he _enjoyed _shopping. There was almost an infinite amount of 'he could's', but none of them seemed to fit the bill.

He settled with thinking about summer– how much he'd miss everyone.

**_Wednesday_**

"SANJI!" Luffy yelled immediately as he stepped into the Black's household.

"COME UP!" Sanji yelled back, used to and unfazed by the other teen's obnoxious volume.

At his cue, Luffy ran up the stairs and into his boyfriend's room, "So what'cha wanna play?" He asked, already sifting through the games while Sanji turned on the PS3.

"Put in COD. For old time's sake," the blond said, a smirk on his face.

The game was put in, loaded, and began on multiplayer and soon the familiar sounds of shooting guns and murmured swearing inhabited the small space. After being sniped from that same mother fucking window for the fifth time in less than four minutes, Sanji through his controller across the room and swore.

"Why the fuck does that asshole always have to go after me?!"

The younger teen silently laughed into his hand, the mirth that was threatening to burst out was barely being suppressed but the few tears fell gathered in the corners of his eyes gave him away.

"What're you laughing– wait, THAT WAS YOU?! YOU ASS!" Sanji yelled, jumping on the other and pinning him down, causing the laughter (that was being hidden so poorly) to explode.

"I'm sorry, Sanji! You were just so–" he paused, vaguely remembering a situation similar to this.

It only took another few seconds for Sanji to realize it to and then they both broke out into laughter, Sanji's head resting on Luffy's shoulder.

"I know I've said you shouldn't say it, but I'm really going to miss this," the Cook said, rolling himself over to lie next to Luffy.

"Me too," he said as they tangled their fingers together.

**_Thursday_**

Luffy had now wiped down the same table four times when there were at least three customers he could've been helping. Just when he was about to do it a fifth time, Ace grabbed his arm, having noticed the obsessive behaviour.

"Luffy, can you go help that table? I'll clean up here," he said, realizing his brother was probably just lost in thought and didn't notice what he was doing.

"Huh? Oh, uh… yeah. Sure," Luffy said, tossing the dampened rag to his brother and slightly jogging off to the other side of the restaurant to help other patrons.

Sanji was in no better shape than the other male had been; he was over-salting things, burning his fingers, and getting lost in thought way more than normal.

After he'd ignored Zeff's shouts for the umpteenth time, his father decided it was time for him to go and rest because he was obviously not feeling well enough to cook even a simple broth.

After both boyfriends were told to leave for the night by their respective bosses and parents, they texted for hours. Just content knowing the other hadn't left yet.

_Yet_.

**_Friday_**

"I seriously can't believe this is the last day!" Nami cried, her eyes skimming across the lunch table at everyone.

"I have to agree with you, Nami-san, it will be quite odd not seeing some of you around here anymore," Miss Nico, who'd decided to join them, commented.

Sanji glanced over at Luffy; who'd taken to picking and staring at his food rather than eating it.

He leaned in and whispered, "You okay?"

The raven looked back and smiled, "I'll be fine," he said, though his tone of voice said otherwise.

Sanji smiled back, slinging his arm around the boy and tugging him close, kissing the top of his head, "Yeah, we'll all be fine."

**_Saturday_**

And that was it. Less than twenty-four hours ago, Luffy recalled standing in the hallway, watching all his (now former) classmates and teachers leave the school, shouting and sighing in relief as their break had finally come.

But all Luffy could do was remember that he wouldn't be able to see two of the most important people in his life everyday anymore. To him, it was heartbreaking to see the school year end.

Though he knew it had to.

"Luffy!" Ace shouted from downstairs.

"YEAH?!" He shouted back louder, trying to overcome the sound barrier that was the pillow his head was currently face-down in.

"Your boyfriend is here to make you stop moping!" Luffy could just hear the smirk in his voice when he said the words.

He smiled, deciding that even if he couldn't make his best friend and his boyfriend stay in high school forever, he could still enjoy the time he had left with them before they left him for college.

**_Monday Morning_**

Luffy woke up that morning to the sight of his boyfriend openly staring at him.

"Sanji!" He half yelled, half laughed.

Sanji smiled, hugging the giggling teen close to his chest, "Well, good morning to you too."

Maybe they didn't have very much time left together (if you count two months as "not much time"), but that didn't mean they couldn't enjoy it while it lasted.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Well. Kinda uneventful? Check. Extremely late? …Check. Leading up to some kind of plot? MOST LIKELY CHECK. So sorry for the late chapter, guys! I've been fighting with life lately and I think I won…? Anyway, I'll try to update sooner next time! Thanks for reading and as always, comments and stuff are appreciated ^^ Thank you, as always, to the lovely aelmer6 for betaing~


	21. Chapter 21

The first week of summer was excruciatingly hot, to say the least. Luffy was over at Sanji's house frequently on account of his own bedroom's AC being broken (at the worst possible time), even though his boyfriend's wasn't much better than his broken one.

After it was decided that no air conditioner in the world could cool the saunas that were the two teens' bedrooms, Luffy and Sanji decided to invite their friends to spend the day at the public pool in hopes of cooling off.

Which, of course, didn't work that well. At least they tried.

-ººº-

The public pool was, of course, packed. So instead of jumping into the hot sweaty germ manifestation, the group of friends headed off to the beach, which was also packed, but it was still better than a fifty by twenty five foot box filled to the brim with sunburned people who were bound to constantly annoy and rub up against them.

They parked the car and walked up to the sand, the seemingly endless stretch of ocean just metres ahead of them.

"WOOHOO! OCEEAAANN!" Luffy screamed, throwing his arms up and running off into the salty waves.

Everyone watched on with bored expressions as the dark haired teen waded out into the water excitedly until his head couldn't be seen anymore. They waited a few seconds for his head to pop back up, though they knew it wouldn't.

Sanji sighed, "I'll go get him," he groaned, jogging out into the water and remerging a few seconds later, his coughing boyfriend in his arms.

"Idiot! Why did you think you'd magically be able to swim?!" Sanji yelled.

"I'm sooorryyy!"

"Alright, alright, can we just eat something?" Usopp cut in.

"I wanna sunbathe," Nami stated offhandedly, already setting up her towel on the sand.

"I still wanna swim…" Luffy grumbled.

"I wouldn't mind getting in the water," Zoro stretched.

Nami's face lit up a bit, "Hey! Why don't you and Zoro teach Luffy how to swim?" She looked to Sanji.

"Why would the Marimo need to be there?"

Zoro rolled his eyes. Luffy didn't care though, he just went bounding off towards the water once again, running in until his head was covered by the water once again. Sanji groaned, already sure that this would be a long day.

-ººº-

One day in the summer, Luffy and the others decided to go to the amusement park. It wasn't too hot of a day, but it was just enough that the breeze flowing past while you zipped through the air on a ride would be complete perfection. They all payed and got through the gate, stopping at the entrance near a map and deciding where to go first.

"I think we should go to that new roller-coaster that just opened up!" Luffy jumped excitedly.

Though Usopp and Chopper paled at the mere thought, "U-um, how 'bout we go to that really cool teacup ride?" Chopper quickly nodded in agreement.

Nami rolled her eyes, "Why don't we split up?"

"Good idea. I call not being with grass-head," Sanji stated.

"I'd rather not be with someone who gets hard when a female attendant checks his safety bar anyway."

"What was that, asshole?" Sanji snarled.

"The truth, ero-cook," Zoro sneered in reply.

"Okay, okay, chill. Chopper goes with Usopp, Luffy goes with Sanji, and I go with Zoro. That sound good?"

"Yay! Let's go, Sanji!" Luffy jumped, grabbing his boyfriend's hand and dragging him off in a random direction.

-ººº-

Most of their day together was spent in lines rather than on the actual rides themselves, but altogether it was pretty enjoyable. Around noon, the two boys went to one of the vendors on the walkway to get their lunch. They grabbed some greasy park food and sat under a tree on a ledge, eating and talking.

"It doesn't feel like it's been that long but it's already nearly the middle of summer, isn't it," Sanji started.

"Yeah," Luffy leaned back, "But it's been fun," he smiled widely.

The cook took a bite out of his burger, wincing and swallowing hard, "Ugh, this food is awful."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Luffy said, taking in the rest of his food in one big bite and sipping at his coke.

Sanji snorted, "Of course you don't."

"Are you gonna finish that?" The teen asked, gesturing towards the food the other was holding.

Sanji just rolled his eyes, smirking, "Nope," he said simply, lifting the burger up and feeding it to the other. Which was quite difficult feat considering the eagerness and amount of teeth that were involved in the endeavour.

Once they finished eating they stood, throwing out their trash and going back to rest for a bit before the started off again. Sanji was laying in the grass behind them, resting on his arms behind his head and sighing as he closed his eyes.

Luffy had planned on doing the same, but when he was about to lie down he noticed a group of girls sitting a few metres away from them, giggling and looking at his boyfriend up and down. He looked over to Sanji, noticing that his shirt had ridden up when he'd stretched, showing off a tantalizing patch of skin. Luffy narrowed his eyes in annoyance, dipping down and pecking the other's mouth, pulling down the shirt simultaneously.

Sanji opened his eyes slowly, "What was that for?"

Luffy just smiled broadly, "Nothin'! Just wanted to say I love ya."

Sanji shrugged a bit and smiled, "Love you too," he said before set his head back down, whereas Luffy turned and looked at the girls who were now trying to act like they weren't just staring at the blond.

Luffy inwardly grumbled, but nevertheless laid down and set his head on the chef's shoulder, grasping the hand that snaked around him soon after and smiling contently.

-ººº-

They hadn't spent every day together as a group that summer, though. Most days the friends were all off doing their own separate things. Luffy and Sanji, however, spent nearly every day in each other's company. On occasion, Luffy would take his time and see Zoro as well, and so the majority of his days were spent with his two best friends (one his boyfriend), trying to savour their time together before they had to leave.

One cool summer day, Luffy and Sanji decided to go down to the forest near their houses. The trees were dense and nearly nobody was ever there hiking or anything, despite the beautiful atmosphere and surprising lack of irritating mosquitos.

The two hiked across the flat ground, heading to nowhere in particular, just enjoying the few rays of sun that'd managed to escape through the cracks in the tree leaves and the still air that hung around them. When they came to a small clearing in the trees they sat down against a trunk together, their shoulders just barely brushing and their hands entwining.

"Hey, Sanji?"

"Mmn?"

"Wanna climb it?" Luffy pointed at the tree adjacent to them, which looked to be taller than most of the other trees in the forest.

Sanji smirked, jumping up quickly and running over to where the other boy'd pointed, "Race you!" He said while he was already scaling the timber's branches.

"No fair!" Luffy yelled, rushing over himself and starting his ascent.

Once they reached the middle of the tree they gave up, both panting slightly from the exertion and the adrenaline.

"That wasn't fair," Luffy said breathlessly in between breaths.

"Yes it was! You're way faster than me at this sorta shit," Sanji said in the same manner.

They slowly relaxed, once again breathing normally and finally being able to take in their surroundings. They were in the middle of the giant tree, so they were quite high up, but along with being so high they were also able to see over the tops of the other trees in the forest. They raked their eyes over their surroundings, surveying the beauty of the late-afternoon sun as the warm light it shone over the tips of every leaf and every branch.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sanji sighed.

"Yeah," Luffy smiled, "I wish everyday was like this."

Sanji hummed, grabbing the other's hand again and continuing to soak in the calm of the atmosphere.

-ººº-

It was the last few weeks of summer by then, and nobody really wanted to have that looming thought about having to leave each other over their heads again, so they organized another time for all of them to hang out.

It took some back and fourth, but eventually they agreed on having a campfire. They did it at Chopper's place, considering he had the biggest and nicest backyard and nobody else was home at the time. They set up the fire pit, Zoro and Usopp forced by Nami to go into the backyard's woods to get firewood. Once a small tepee of sticks and logs had been made, someone scrunched in some kindling and they got the fire started with a match (despite Luffy's protests and pleadings to be allowed to start a spark with two sticks).

Nami'd set up chairs while the other's had gotten the materials, and they all settled down when the flames started licking at the larger logs and the fire had grown to it's full potential.

"So…marshmallows?" Luffy spoke up.

Nami giggled, throwing her friend the bag of treats, "Yup. Chopper are there any skewers or anything we can use?"

"Mhm! Hold on a sec," he said as he got up and ran inside for them, coming back out a few moments later with several metal rods.

They all leaned back in their lawn chairs, casually roasting the sweets (except for Luffy, who was burning them all and inhaling four at a time, constantly getting yelled at by Sanji, who was cooking every one of his to a perfect golden brown) while they talked about what they'd done and who they'd seen over the summer break thus far.

It was probably around one in the morning when the embers of the fire were all that were left and the conversation had dulled. Everybody was getting kind of drowsy from the lack of talking when Usopp decided to speak up.

"Hey, you guys wanna hear a scary story?" He played up, sitting a bit closer to the fire's remains so the dim reddish orange colour illuminated the underside of his chin. Everyone perked up, sitting up a bit taller to keep awake while they waited for the storyteller to start talking again.

"It was one cold black night in the middle of a forest," he began, "Nobody else was with the girl as she was forced to walk away and search for help for her broken down truck. She wandered for what felt like hours in search of someone, but had only found strange pages tacked and taped onto odd places in the for–"

"Let me rephrase this," Sanji cut in, also now sitting close to the dying fire so his face showed the same effect as the other's, "It was a sunny afternoon outside when Usopp decided to ignore the outside life and play Slenderman," everyone laughed into their hands at Usopp's feigned hurt, "He probably didn't win, and died by the monster's hand, deeming it a scary enough story to retell at a campfire."

"Okay, fine, I assume you have a better story to tell then?"

"Nah."

"Thought not."

They continued on from there, some remembering old ghost stories and choosing to spook Chopper and Usopp. By the time the fire was finally reduced to a mere red hue and all heat and bright light from it was lost, Chopper and Usopp had already gone inside, and Nami and Zoro were quietly talking to each other, though nearly falling asleep in the process of doing so.

Luffy had crawled on top of his boyfriend at some point in the night and was now resting his head on the other's shoulder, both in a similar conscious state as the two across from them.

"Hey, Luffy," Sanji whispered.

"Mhmm?"

"Let's go inside, c'mon," the blond hefted the pretty much sleeping boy up in his arms, saying good night to the other two and walking inside to the house. He trudged up the stairs to one of the large house's many guest bedrooms and put the other down, stretching out his arms before getting under the duvet with him.

He kissed the younger's head briefly, laying his arm across his torso and pulling him close.

"See you in the morning," he said against his black hair, earning an incoherent mumble in return.

He laughed softly as he slipped into unconsciousness himself. And with that, their summer was nearly already over.

So sorry this took me so long! I got caught up with theme weeks for Attack on Titan (which you can find on my AO3 account, TN_Night if you're interested). Anyway, I blasted through the summer part because I wanted to get to the part where the two go off to college, sorry about that as well! As always, thank you to the lovely aelmer6 for betaing. Cookies to reviewers and to everyone who read~!


	22. Chapter 22

**Okay! I am sooooooo sorry for how late this is. I got lazy and didn't write for a while, then my editor (aelmer6, thank you so much!) was super busy with her school work and didn't have time to edit (this is actually unedited anyway). So! I hope everyone had happy holidays and will continue to have them so forth and I will hopefully be posting chapters a lot quicker now that I've gotten my head out of my ass. Again, forgive me for my laziness!**

**Oh! P.s: another reason these chapters are fewer and further in-between is because I've actually been working on another story on the side for AOT. No chapters for it are up yet, but incase any of you are interested in reading more of my stuff (mostly Shingeki No Kyojin fics), head to my AO3 account. My name is TN_Night :D Thanks~!**

As the summer months began to quiet down from excited breakers and vacationers to relaxed teens relishing the last bits of heat and freedom, Luffy and Sanji began seeing each other less and less.

It wasn't that either of them particularly _wanted_ to not see the other as much, but it seemed as though packing, planning, and working weighed heavy on the blond's mind, and Luffy was left behind to simply remember all their beautiful summer days and nights together.

Sanji had to start working overtime at the restaurant to cover the few people who'd gone on last minute vacations; and if that weren't enough to eat up all his time, he also had to start getting supplies and packing for college. Luffy had offered to help him but his offer was declined simply for time's sake, as they knew they wouldn't really get anything done if the both of them were together.

And so, the younger teen sat in his room with a pout on his face. He stared up at the ceiling out of boredom, as he'd been doing a lot of these past few days. Ace had been concerned for his little brother at first, but what could he do? So now he just watched him go through the monotonous motions of everyday life: eating, sleeping, showering, staring straight forward with a blank look on his face.

Ace stood at his brother's door, leaning against the frame and looking on sadly as he watched his brother lay motionless in his bed, lacking his usual vigour and excitement. He watched the boy's chest rise and fall rhythmically as he breathed, watched his unchanging face and emotion-filled eyes.

"Luffy?"

Said teen hummed in response, his face still impassive.

"Do you want to come out with me today?"

The raven shot up, looking at his brother with the excitement the other missed so much, "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"WOOHOO!" He screamed, jumping off the messy bed and running downstairs, Ace guessed to fill the usually endless stomach that he'd been feeding less these days.

The two brothers ended up going out to the mall, mostly because Luffy hadn't done any shopping for back to school yet. They wandered up and down isles of pristinely packed orange pencils and the thinly edged blades to sharpen them with.

In all honestly, Ace had really been hoping to see Sanji while they were out. Seeing his little brother this…_still_ for more than a few seconds at a time was really starting to get to him.

But alas, they hadn't come across the other teen. They paid for their things and drove home, leaving Ace to regret not just going to the Baratie in the first place.

Then again, maybe it was for the best.

Sanji yawned, stretching his tired, overworked limbs. He'd been cooking for nearly ten hours straight, and now he had to wait tables for another one hour because someone from the wait staff had to leave a few hours early for an emergency.

He hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, either. Maybe, three or four hours or so. He was surviving on coffee and nicotine at this point, but even that wasn't working as best as it usually would. Next week would mark the end of summer vacation, and he'd be off to college. He hadn't gotten the chance to tell Luffy when he was leaving yet, simply because of his overloaded work schedule.

He'd been operating like this– four hours of sleep and eleven to twelve hours of work alongside packing and cleaning– for about two weeks. He hadn't been as busy in earlier weeks and months, but he wasn't exactly free-scheduled at that time either. He'd have to tell his boyfriend when he was going when he had some free time; whether that was being practical or procrastinating, he didn't know.

He washed his hands, scrubbing them clean of oil and whatever the hell else was stuck to his skin under the too-cold water spraying from the tap.

Sighing, he dried his hands a dragged his feet sluggishly all throughout the rest of his night waiting.

Once he'd finished his agonizingly long shift, Sanji made his way upstairs, crashing onto his bed immediately and not even having time to think about calling his boyfriend.

In the same manner, houses away, Luffy jumped into his bed back first, opening up his phone and sighing sadly at the empty "received calls" list.

Luffy groaned as he stared at his phone once more. It'd been a week since he'd gone out with Ace and he hadn't been out since. School started tomorrow and Sanji hadn't texted, called, emailed, come over, sent a carrier pigeon with a note attached, put an ad in the newspaper (he checked), or done anything else to contact him. He knew that his boyfriend was busy, too busy to even send a simple text it seemed, but it kinda made the younger teen a bit restless. Was this silence on his part _really_ because of work? Did he just not _want_ to talk to him? Were they through?

Or maybe Sanji lost his phone.

Or maybe Sanji _himself_ was lost.

Or dead.

Eaten by wolves.

While it was unlike Luffy to worry about things like this, this was _Sanji_ he was talking, well, thinking about. He loved the other, it hurt when he didn't communicate with him for so long. He was lonely.

Luffy heard a soft knocking at his door.

"Luffy?" Ace's voice called him.

Said teen mumbled a response into the pillow he'd shoved his face into. Ace rolled his eyes, strolling over to the bed and taking a seat beside his brother, shaking him.

The raven groaned at the harsh treatment, but still didn't move.

Ace chuckled, "Luffy, why don't you just call him?"

In hindsight, Ace probably shouldn't've stood so close to the grenade he was pulling the pin from.

Luffy shot up, narrowly missing Ace's face with his fist, before he flopped back down like a fish, a bright smile shining on his face as he punched in the other's number.

It rang and he waited, and waited, and waited, until–

_"Hello?"_

"SANJI!" Luffy screamed into the phone, excited to finally hear the voice he'd been missing for the past few weeks.

_"Hey, Luffy! I'm so sorry I haven't talked to you in so long. Zeff asked me to take over so many shitty positions at the restaurant."_

"It's okay! I just miss you so much. Wanna hang out today before I have to go back to school?"

_"Oh, um, Luffy…"_

"Hmm?"

_"I actually already left."_


	23. Chapter 23

**Just a little filler chapter, nothing major :)**

It was a cool summer morning. Well, cool as it could be in summer. Sanji was in the passenger seat next to Zeff, who was driving. They were currently on their way to Sanji's new college.

The ride thus far was pretty much completely silent. Not that the two were at all angry at each other or anything, but Sanji was too busy longingly staring out the car window to hold let alone start any sort of conversation with the other.

It felt like it'd been forever since he'd last seen his boyfriend, and now he would surely not be seeing him for even longer.

He planned to tell Luffy that he was leaving, but between the excruciatingly long hours at the Baratie and the late night packing up and cleaning of his room, he couldn't find the time to work the nerve up to do it. His call with the other teen a few minutes ago didn't help either; in fact, it probably just made things worse. After he'd heard his boyfriend's slightly dejected and very out of character "Oh…okay, well, I have to go." along with the dial tone of his phone, he felt the sad weight that'd been keeping his shoulders slouched this past week increase a tenfold.

But maybe the workload of college would take his mind off the gnawing guilt spreading in his chest.

Zeff pulled into a parking lot and parked the car in a spot relatively close to the dorm building. Other students bustled about around them. Most trying to get luggage from point A to point B while their families cried and clung to them too tightly to breath.

For once, Sanji is glad that he and Zeff don't have a super close familial relationship.

The two blonds got out of the car and headed for the trunk to gather all the things the teen had packed over the weeks. They grabbed the bags and headed inside.

When Sanji got into the room he noticed it was empty aside from two bare beds and desks.

_Well, at least I don't have to deal with a roommate just yet. _

The room was a nice size. The carpet flooring and white walls went with the dark wood doors to the dresser and the white wooden frame around the window.

"So, do you think you'll be alright from here?" Zeff asked and Sanji rolled his eyes. Of course he would want to leave as soon as possible.

Who wouldn't.

It's school.

Either way, he said yes and they bid their farewells, promising to talk to each other over the phone every so often.

Sanji sighed, "Well, better get started."

"I hope you don't always talk to yourself." An unfamiliar voice said from behind him.

He turned around and was greeted with a slightly hellish sight.

A man, who Sanji guessed was his new roommate, stood in the doorway. Cases of luggage in front of and behind him. The man stood tall, partially shirtless, and cockily. His spiky red hair matched his piercing red eyes and his red lips and his red cloths and his red everything.

The guy looked _red._

"And you are…?" The blond trailed off expectantly.

"Eustass Kid. Your roommate."

"Thought so."

As the first day in the dorm past, he quickly realized that his roommate wasn't so bad. Though he was mildly self-absorbed and did have pretty weird fashion sense, the dude was chill.

They talked a bit, but most of their conversations consisted of greetings and simple questions like "have you seen my phone around here?" Sanji didn't mind, though. As long as he wouldn't have any trouble with the guy in the future. He thinks, _hopes, _they're friends. At least tight enough that they won't fuck with each other.


	24. Chapter 24

_Beep _the phone sounded when he pressed the end button.

Luffy slumped in his seat.

_What the hell, Sanji? _He thought.

He ran a hand down his face.

_This isn't fair._

_..._

_You know what else isn't fair? _His mind whispered.

_Life._

"Luffy?"

The teen turned his head to look over to his brother who was standing in the doorway looking concerned.

"Yeah?" The boy grunted out, pushing on his knee to stand up and go put his phone over on his dresser.

"What's uh…What's up?"

Luffy turned to him with small tears welling up in his eyes, spilling over when Ace hurried over to his side to hold him.

"He left…" he sobbed, "He's gone already and he didn't even say goodbye." He said in a rushed exhale, clinging onto Ace's shirt and letting his tears wet the other's shoulder.

"What?" He half-whispered.

A choked cry shook Luffy's chest and his older brother carefully led him back to his bed, sitting down next to him once he got him settled.

"Hey, Lu, just…just tell me what happened, okay?"

"He- he…We ha-haven't seen each other for s-so long and he didn't tell me he left."

Ace sighed angrily through his teeth, mentally punching his brother's boyfriend in his pretty-boy nose, "Did you…did you talk to him about it? Ask him why he did it?"

"N-no…I just hung up."

"Well maybe call him back? Video chat with him to make it more…personal? Maybe he'll explain his reasons." Ace said, trying hard not to just ask his brother for the number so he could chew the asshole out himself.

Luffy nodded, "Do I have to do it right now?"

"You don't have to do it at all. But if you wanna take time, it's not up to me. Do what you feel is right." Ace said, giving his brother a quick hug and leaving him to think.

•••Three Days Later•••

Luffy groaned as he clicked open the Skype tab on his laptop. He was feeling both excited at the promise of being able to see Sanji after so many days, but he was also feeling apprehensive. He was still upset about the fact that his boyfriend had just left without a word. It was like an abandonment.

Nevertheless, he'd texted Sanji an hour ago telling him to get on Skype so they could talk about things. As the call rang, Luffy waited nervously; his thumbs twiddling and his eyes moving side-to-side.

_"Hey, Lu." _Sanji's voice came from the computer.

"Sanji!" The black haired teen said in a relieved voice. Relieved that he picked up. Relieved that he finally got to see the one he loved.

"How've…how've you been? I haven't seen you in a while."

Luffy cleared his throat, "Ah, yeah. I'm good. You?"

"I'm good. My dorm room is actually really nice. Good size."

The teen laughed, "I'm glad it's nice there! Wouldn't want you–" Luffy stopped short as he watched a red haired male walk behind Sanji, his shirt off and his hair tousled.

"Luffy?"

"A-ah…yeah; wouldn't want you being cramped or anything."

Sanji stared at him for a second longer, wondering why he'd suddenly stopped before. Deciding to let it go, he addressed the more important issue at hand, "Oh, look, Lu, about leaving without a word–"

"It's okay. You'll just have to make it up to me later on." Luffy said, wiggling his eyebrows and winking over-seductively to jokingly emphasize his point.

The blond laughed, "Will do."

•••

They talked for three hours after that before Luffy was called down to dinner. He made his way downstairs, of course, in a rush; running for the food first before greeting his family.

Once he'd filled his stomach with his mother's delicious meatloaf, among other things (aka, anything and everything that was set out), the teen got up from the table.

"Ace?"

Said male was passed out on the table, his narcolepsy having taken hold of him after his meal.

"Aaaacceee~" Luffy whined, poking his brother until he woke up.

"Mmmn?" He groaned.

"Come upstairs with me. I wanna tell you somethin'."

The older of the two sighed and reluctantly agreed, though he trudged his way up the steps to the other's bedroom.

By the time they'd reached his room and Luffy had closed the door, Ace had woken up a bit more. "What'd you wanna tell me, Lu?"

The teen's face fell slightly and his lip jutted out poutingly, "I think Ace is cheating on me."

Ace's eyes opened wide, "He's _what_?!" he yelled.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down! I said I _think_. I don't know, but I'm completely certain."

Ace stared at his brother with a blank face, "Luffy, what do you think certain means?"

"It means he's cheating on me."

"…Well what do you know, I've been using that word wrong my whole life."

"Ace! Help me!" He whimpered.

"Fine, fine." He laughed, "Why do you think he's being unfaithful?"

"Because when we were video chatting some…some _guy _was walking around in his room _shirtless!_"

"What if he just has a dorm mate? Or he had a friend over and he wanted to borrow a shirt or something? You can't just assume based off of what you saw. Did you ask him about it?"

"…No…"

"Exactly. So get some rest and call him back in the morning, yeah? It's just a misunderstanding, I promise."

Luffy sighed, "Okay…But can I ask you for something?"

Ace smiled, "Sure, Lu. What do ya need?"

"Can you bring me some leftovers from downstairs?"

His brother smacked him upside the head, "Baka! Get it yourself!" He said, walking out the door and ignoring his brother's pleadings for food.

He was so gonna eat all the leftovers before Luffy could get them.


	25. Chapter 25

_Offline_

The text read. It'd been an hour and Sanji _still_ hadn't come on. Even though he'd messaged him in the chat box several times and texted his cell telling him to get online.

_Guess I could always just call his phone. _Luffy thought to himself.

He'd decided to take up Ace's suggestion and call his boyfriend. He already knew that he was most likely wrong (even though he was "certain" he wasn't) on the whole "cheating" front, but it was always nice to get reassurance. And to be honest, he couldn't pass on another possible opportunity to talk to the blond. He missed him. A lot.

The teen speedily typed in the numbers on his phone, not bothering searching for a contact when he already knew the number by heart, and pressed his ear to the receiver, listening intently.

About five rings later, the call was picked up.

"Yo, Sanji!" Luffy said, grinning wide and falling back on his bed. _Finally, you pick up!_

_"Who is this?" _An unfamiliar voice answered.

"Uh, wait, who is this?" Luffy asked, suddenly confused.

_"I asked first."_ The other voice responded.

"I'm Sanji's boyfriend, Monkey D. Luffy! Now who is this!" Luffy puffed his cheeks out in annoyance. Why couldn't he just talk to the person he wanted to for once?

_"Nah. You don't need to know who I am."_

_Well that's unfair_, "Where is Sanji?!" He nearly screamed.

The voice paused for a second before it chuckled lowly, _"In bed." _He said in a gravely voice; hinting.

"Why is that funny!" Luffy demanded, now pissed at the person on the other end of the phone's condescending tone.

_"Because he's in bed _**_with me_**_, 'boyfriend'."_

ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª

"Because he's in bed with me, 'boyfriend'." Kid smirked. Whoever the hell this guy was there was no way in hell he would actually be dating blondy. That guy was obviously reserved for women. Must be some sad-ass loner who had a man-crush on 'im or something.

Just as the line abruptly went dead, the door to the dorm room swung open. "Hey." Sanji greeted.

"Hey."

"Have you seen my phone? I left it back here again."

"Ah, yeah, here ya go." Kid said, handing him his phone.

Sanji looked a bit puzzled as he took the cell, "Why were you holding my phone?"

The other stood up from his seat on his bed, "Some guy called you, I picked it up. No need for thanks." He waved his hand loosely as he strolled past Sanji towards the door.

"Wait, who was it? Why the hell are you poking around at my shit?" The chef said angrily.

"Some guy named 'Loofa' or something. Said he was your boyfriend so I told him off."

"You fucking _what?!_"

Kid looked taken aback, "Implied we slept together to get him off your back. Why?"

Sanji huffed out a breath, hurriedly grabbing his jacket and speed walking out into the hall, slapping his roommate on the back of the head before he slammed the door behind him, leaving Kid perplexed.

ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª

Their town was about an hour away from the college by car, but sadly, Sanji didn't have a car. He jogged up to the bus stop, paying for a ticket and sitting himself down in one of the middle rows. Luckily the bus wasn't too crowded, so he could spare himself from the sneezing weirdos and the crying infants.

He sighed. He really should've known better than to trust Kid not to do anything stupid while he was out at the gym. How he was ever going to get Luffy to understand this, he didn't know.

This marked two mistakes. He really hoped he wouldn't make a third.

ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª

"ACE!" Luffy screamed, his fingers pulling at his own hair in a weak attempt to regain his composure.

But when could Luffy ever do that?

"What?! What's wrong?" His older brother said, rushing into the boy's room and immediately pulling him close to try and shush him once he saw the other's broken expression.

"S-Sanji's a-actually–"

"If you say what I think you're about to say I swear I'm gonna go down there and beat the shit out of him." Ace growled and Luffy clung to his shirt.

"Please don't…" he whispered.

The older brother sighed, resting his head on top of the other's and stroking his hair. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"Well…"

ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª

After about ten minutes, Luffy finally managed to retell the conversation he'd had with the guy on the phone through his laboured breath and saddened hiccups. Ace was seething beside his brother, clutching equally as hard to his shirt as the other was to his, trying to tame his rage.

_I should've never encouraged this relationship. _Ace thought angrily to himself.

"Luffy?"

Said boy sniffed, "Yeah?"

Ace winced at his brother's broken voice; he hesitated, "Did I…did I do this wrong?"

The raven sat up and wiped at his eyes, a confused expression on his face, "Do what wrong?"

"I mean…Did I help you wrong? Should I have given you advice on how to stay _away_ from people like him? Rather than just lead you towards a guy neither of us knew anything about? Should I really have encouraged this?" He answered hesitantly.

Luffy nearly gaped at the other, "Ace, I had so much fun with Sanji! All the times we went out together, and went on dates, and played video games…You were the one who did that for me in the first place! You're a great brother so shut up!" He finished, crossing his arms and puffing his cheeks out childishly.

Ace laughed and pulled the younger teen down on top of him, "You are such a little brother!"

Luffy squirmed, trying to get out of his brother's grasp when the other began to tickle him furiously.

"ACE NO STOP!" Luffy cried, this time from a mix of the ticklish sensation and from happiness. He wasn't alone. Even if Sanji had left him, he wasn't alone.

ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª

The two had eventually grown tired of the back and forth tickle and wrestle fights that lasted nearly until dinner was called.

The two boys walked (ran) down the stairs to the table, cheering excitedly at the sight of the plates of meat Makino was setting on the table.

The family's chatter buzzed over their meal. The table was lively for the first time in a long time and Ace smiled at the thought of it. He was so happy to have his brother back. The one that loved to laugh, steal food, boast, and brag. The one who put himself out for everyone else to see. The one whose energy never dropped. The one who–

_Knock knock knock._

Three raps sounded from the front door. Seeing as everyone else was too engaged in conversation to notice, Ace got up to answer it.

He didn't bother to look out the peephole, instead he just twisted the brass doorknob, pulling open the door and…

Stopping.

"Why are you here." Ace said to Sanji, his tone cold as ice.

The blond sighed, "Because I have some explaining to do."

ªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªªª

Luffy sat on his bed, Sanji standing in his bedroom's doorframe and Ace sitting on his desk chair. The brothers were both watching the college student, waiting for him to start talking.

"I don't know _exactly_ what you heard, but whatever it was was wrong."

"Wrong how." Ace butt in.

"Ace…" Luffy looked over to his brother, shaking his head, silently telling him to let the blond talk.

"He doesn't…The guy you talked to, it was my roommate."

The youngest of the three sighed. Though it wasn't a confirmation of anything, he still didn't like the idea of some guy sleeping in the same room as his boyfriend while thinking of them sleeping together.

"It was a misunderstanding. He thought I was only into girls and when you said you were my boyfriend–"

"And how the hell did he get the impression that you were into _anyone_ besides my brother?" Ace snarled as he stood up from his seat.

"I don't know, I'm nice to the ladies, it's habit!"

"Ace, it's fine, I don't care." Luffy said, looking off to the side.

Of course he cared. But why say anything about it? He already messed with every other detail of the blond's life, he has to leave some things alone. The blond needed some aspect of privacy. He doesn't want to pressure him. He doesn't want to hurt him. He wouldn't want to lose him.

"Lu…" his boyfriend said softly, walking over to the other slowly and taking a seat beside him on the bed. "I'm…I'm really sorry. I didn't know you got upset by that stuff. I would've stopped, you know."

"I know…I just didn't want to try to change more of you. I already convinced you to date a guy when you're obviously not into men."

"That was my own choice, I could've said no." He shook his head.

Luffy stayed silent.

The blond looked down, "I just–" he took a breath "I just love you and I know I do some weird ass shit sometimes but…can you trust me on this one? I swear, I did nothing with anybody while we were dating. Not any girl, not my roommate…not my food–"

"HAHA!" The younger laughed, "No way! I bet you kissed some food in the last week!" Luffy smiled, and Sanji's face copied the expression.

"Nope. I would starve for you."

The teen blushed, "Liar."

Sanji hummed, "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"I kissed a peach, and I liked it~" he sung under his breath and Luffy nearly busted a gut laughing.

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

Ace shook his head, _You guys are weird._


	26. Chapter 26

**Little filler chapter. We're declining towards the end, guys! It's so bittersweet :')**

Half a year through college, Sanji was now sitting at the desk in his room writing a paper for his English class when his phone started buzzing beside him. He sighed, as it was not the most convenient time to be getting a call.

_Zeff_

_You had to call_ **_now_**_ old man? _He thought as he pressed the answer button.

"Hello?"

"SANJI!"

The blond recoiled and turned the phone away from his ear, "OW! Fuck, Luffy, why are you on Zeff's phone?!"

"Because I have a surprise to tell you and it was his idea so I'm with him but I forgot my phone." He rushed his words, obviously excited for the main part of the call.

The blond sighed; _well, so much for productivity. _When Luffy didn't talk for another couple of seconds, Sanji realized he was waiting for permission to tell him his "surprise". _Waiting. Huh. Luffy has grown up somewhat, I guess._

"WE BOUGHT YOU AN APARTMENT!"

_Maybe not. _"You bought me an apartment?" Sanji repeated, slightly taken aback.

"Mhm! And it's close to your college and stuff but it's private so you don't have to share it." Luffy replied, the last part said with a bit more malice than the blond was expecting.

It was kind of to be expected, though. Ever since the incident that'd happened a few months ago, the younger of the two seemed to show his jealousy a tad bit more often. And while Sanji couldn't exactly say he was glad his boyfriend was jealous, he did like the fact that he wasn't afraid to tell him about how he felt anymore.

"So, when do I get to see this new apartment?"

"Right now!" Luffy replied, though it didn't just come from the phone…

The blond turned in his chair, quickly coming face-to-face with a giant grin and wide brown eyes. He jumped back and nearly knocked his lamp off his desk. He quickly saved the poor light while Luffy laughed at the reaction.

"Dammit, Luffy, how did you get in here?!"

"Not important, let's go!" The raven grabbed his boyfriend's arm and dragged him out of his dorm room and didn't let go until they were both in the back seat of Zeff's car (Luffy wouldn't let either of them sit up front because then he wouldn't be able to drag Sanji out when they got there).

After about a five minute drive, they came to a large, slightly modern-looking apartment building. They all got out of the car (Luffy continued to drag Sanji excitedly) and walked into the building. A short ride in an elevator later and they're standing at a door to an apartment located on the sixth floor of the building. Zeff pulls out a key from his pocket and unlocks the entrance, pushing in the door and stepping to the side.

"Well, brat. Go on in." He says.

Sanji smiles before strolling into the room. It's spacious. There're nearly no walls and one hall that leads to, what Sanji assumes is, the bedroom and bathroom. The large open room had a kitchen separated by a half wall to one side, a small area to the other, probably meant for a living room if the amount of outlets in the walls were anything to go by, and another open space that could be a dining room.

The blond smiled.

"Why did you get me this?" He asked as he turned to look at his boyfriend and father.

"Because you deserve it." Zeff said proudly. "And because Luffy didn't want you in a shared dorm." He whispered under his breath, though the youngest teen heard him anyway and shot him a glare.

The college student chuckled, "Thank you guys, really. But how am I gonna pay the rent for this place?"

"I'll pay your rent for a while until you can get a good job." His dad replied.

"Wow…just…thank you." The blond said, still quite blown away at the thought of having his own place.

"I'm gonna visit you everyday!" Luffy yelled.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!" Sanji yelled back again as he rushed down the hall into his new bedroom, Luffy hot on his tail. Both leaving a chuckling Zeff in their wake.


	27. Chapter 27

**Final chapter! You excited?**

The laptop _clicked_ softly as Sanji closed it, leaning back and sighing in content.

_Last assignment before break finished and sent._ He thought to himself.

Over the coming winter holidays, the blond was planning to spend his time down at his old man's place. He'd probably spend a few days working at the restaurant while he was down there too. After Zeff gave him the apartment he was currently living in he started to really think about what job he was going to go after, where and when and what. After weeks of complementation he'd decided to work at the Italian restaurant down the street from his building until he finished college. After that…

Maybe that was a bridge to cross when he got to it.

Sanji sat up from his slouched position on the couch, pushing his computer off his lap and onto the cushion next to him. He'd been lucky enough to receive some old furniture from a neighbour who was moving out down the hall from him a few weeks ago. The set he got topped off the house with a table, a couch, two chairs, and a side table. The rest he either bought himself or had left from his room at Zeff's house. Either way, his house now felt more like a home. Though he felt as though he'd spent too much time there as of late, trying to meet deadlines and not die of stress or lack of sleep. He was itching to leave the house, even if only for a little while. Which was one of the reasons he was so excited to go back home for the holidays.

The other reason, of course, being the fact that he'd get to see Luffy for a couple days in person, rather than just over a grainy Skype call.

The long drive back to his hometown didn't feel as long as it usually did. He hadn't seen everyone in a couple months for more than a a few hours at most; it would be nice to spend a few days with the people whose company he'd missed so much.

He left the warm comfort of his new car's heated interior to trudge through the cold mounds of snow up to his old home, locking his ride behind him. Not bothering to knock, Sanji used his key for the house to open the door. He sighed contentedly when he felt the warm gust of air that hit him when he stepped inside. He stood in front of the stairwell that led up to his house. Peeking in the window in the door that went through to the Baratie, he saw that the restaurant was closed, no one was in the kitchen either.

Which was to be expected, it was only five o'clock, the restaurant usually opened at seven near the holidays. He shrugged, shimmying out of his coat as he hopped his way up the stairs to the door of Zeff's house.

"SANJI!" The blond was greeted with a hug from his boyfriend at his front door, nearly pushing him back down the steps he just came up.

"Hey, Luffy." The cook smiled, kissing the top of the younger teen's head while he toed off his shoes.

"Hey, Brat." His father said, a grin on his face as he patted his son on the back.

Sanji nodded to Zeff with a smile as a response as his eyes scanned the room. There were a lot more people there than he'd expected, though that certainly wasn't a bad thing. Their living room wasn't small, but it wasn't exactly enormous either, though everyone seemed to be sitting and chatting comfortably. The first people he noticed there were Luffy's family, sitting on the couches and talking about something Sanji couldn't hear. The second group he saw consisted of most of his high school friends– Nami, Zoro, Usopp, and Chopper– standing in the kitchen reminiscing. Along with Zeff, Luffy, and himself, that made for a party of eleven. Maybe the old man would let him help cook more than a couple appetizers for this holiday.

Hellos were exchanged with the others and soon Zeff shooed everyone out of his kitchen so he could continue cooking. The six friends moved over to the carpet near the dining table, sitting down around each other to continue conversing.

"So, Sanji, I've barely seen you since graduation. How's college going?" Nami asked, leaning back on her hands.

"It's good. Things are quieter now that I have my own place; I get a lot more work done." He shrugged, ignoring the sparkling look of triumph in Luffy's eyes from beside him.

"What about you, Zoro? Haven't heard much about your life lately." Usopp asked.

"Ah, yeah. I've just been helping out at the dojo I used to train at."

"You planning to work there?"

"Yeah, I've already asked my former sensei about it."

"Good to hear the marimo will be of some sort of use to the world." Sanji commented snidely.

"Yeah, sorry to hear you won't be, curly brow."

"Fuck you, moss head."

"Nah, not interested. If you're desperate, though, I'm sure your boyfriend would be happy to–" Nami elbowed Zoro in the arm, cutting him off.

"Dinner's ready!" Zeff called from the kitchen.

–––

Once the feast had been had, the families and friends spread out again, their bellies full of food and their minds full of the conversation that'd gone on over the dinner table. The friends once again ditched the adults in favour of going back to the carpet to reminisce, though once they all sat down they quickly realized that two of their group were missing.

"Where're Sanji and Luffy?" Chopper asked.

"Beats me." Usopp responded, "Maybe they'll come back later."

–––

Sanji shut his former bedroom's door behind them as quietly as possible, swiftly turning back around and pulling his boyfriend into a tight embrace, kissing him so hard their teeth nearly knocked together. Luffy pulled on the blond hair his fingers were entangled in, making Sanji moan at the force.

The room now looked to be a guest bedroom. The furniture was simple– bedside drawers, a standing lamp, a dresser– but the two didn't really care about anything in the room other than the bed. Sanji backed the younger up until the backs of his knees hit the mattress, continuing to push him until his back was flat against the bed.

Sanji already had control of the kiss, pushing his tongue into the other's mouth with fervour, trying to map and memorize every inch of the space; trying to remember so that when he had to leave again, he wouldn't forget.

Luffy had given up the hair-pulling and instead moved to tug on the shoulders of his boyfriend's shirt, wrinkling the black cotton long-sleeve.

Sanji smirked against the younger's lips, reaching up with one hand to cup his boyfriend's face affectionately.

The decrease in intensity of their make-out session prompted Luffy to open his eyes, surprised to find his so close to Sanji's blue ones. He released his grip on the shirt, smiling as he brushed a stray piece of hair out of the other's face.

"You look beautiful right now." Sanji spoke softly.

"How can you even see me when we're this close?"

The blond chuckled and shook his head; pressing his forehead against Luffy's.

"You always look beautiful. I'm just talking from experience." He said, pecking his boyfriend's lips once, twice, a third time, and on the fourth he just stayed there. Neither of them moved their mouths much, they were content with being as close as they could be without being inside each other.

Sanji rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, the same as the other was doing.

"You're graduating soon." Sanji said.

"Not that soon."

"Soon enough."

A beat of silence passed, both boys thinking about their possible futures. How would things proceed from this point? How would they be able to see each other at all? How would–

"Do you think we'll ever get married?" Luffy asked, abruptly disturbing the silence.

Sanji turned his head, looking over at the boy he'd come to love, who was still staring at the ceiling, slightly nervously waiting for a reply.

He turned his head back, "Yeah, I think so. Do you?"

He let out the breath he was holding in in anticipation, "Mhm. I wanna marry you."

"How do you think it'll go?" Sanji asked, purposefully using "will" instead of "would".

"I think we'll both be wearing suits– well, maybe not you. You should wear sweatpants because you wear suits too often."

Sanji laughed and flicked his boyfriend for the comment on his attire. "Okay, got an idea for vows?"

"What're vows?"

He rolled his eyes, "Of course." He chuckled, "Mine would be simple. Something like," he raised his hand to gesture at nothing in the air, "'Monkey D. Luffy, I promise to love you and to never fawn over other girls.'"

"Yeah, you better not."

Sanji laughed, moving over to rest his head on Luffy's shoulder.

"Can mine be, 'Sanji, I wanna play awesome video games with you forever'?"

The blond kissed his boyfriend's cheek, "Yes."

Luffy suddenly smirked and pulled Sanji up by his arm so they were both sitting on the bed rather than lying, "Sanji Black," he spoke in some weird accent, pretending to be someone else, "do you take Monkey D. Luffy–"

–––

"–To be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and health, to love, honour and obey, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live? The officiant said, five years later.

"I do."

"And do you, Monkey D. Luffy, take this man, Sanji Black, to be your lawfully–"

"I do!"

Sanji chuckled behind the sleeve of his white dress shirt, seeing his soon-to-be mother-in-law shaking her head out of the corner of his eye from the front row seat of their makeshift pews, her feet slightly dug into the grass of the field they were in.

The officiant smiled at the man's enthusiasm, also slightly shaking his head but with less…exasperation.

"If there be anyone present who may show just and lawful cause why this couple may not be legally wed, let him speak now or forever hold his peace."

When no one said anything, the ring bearer gave the two their rings.

The two slipped the two simple gold bands on each other's ring fingers, repeating after the minister when told to and staring into each other's eyes the entire time.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and, well, man. You may now kiss the groom."

Luffy's eyes lit up excitedly, staring up at Sanji and waiting for his go-ahead for once. He'd gotten better at that. He'd gotten better at a lot of things. But as the blond stood there, gazing longingly at his fiancé–husband, lover– he realized that it didn't matter whether or not he changed. He would love him until the day he died, regardless.

Sanji bent down quickly– his height difference still prominent even after all the years– and pressed his lips against Luffy's, the other sighing against his lips when they connected. They could hear the cheers of their friends and family members behind them, but they blocked them out. Even when they broke apart all they could see or hear was each other– each other's features, each other's breaths, each other.

"As you begin your marriage, let your home be a haven of peace in the midst of a busy and changing world; let your relationship be one of complete truth, love and understanding between marriage will yield what you give to it. May you enjoy a long life, fulfill your hopes, feel content as you live day after day, and keep your promises to one another."

"I love you." Luffy whispered.

"I love you too." Sanji whispered back.

**Well, that's, I guess! I may add some extra chapters if anyone wants 'em. This story was my first multi chapter and therefor definitely has plenty of mistakes and irrelevant bullshit sprinkled throughout it. My editor, the lovely aelmer6 (who also beta'd this chapter despite being really busy, thank you!), and I are most likely going to go over all 27 chapters at some point and just fix the shit outta 'em. Anyway, I hope you liked this story and thank you so much to everyone who put up with my shitty upload schedules :D ****Onigiri to readers and cookies to reviewers! **


	28. Note for an extra

Hello ^^ So someone asked for a lemon. I've been asked about it before for this story and I kinda hesitated cause I'm not good at writing them, and because I wasn't sure if this story needed one. Oh, and also because _technically_ doesn't allow them. I'm kind of a stickler for rules. Either way, despite all that made me not do it in the first place, I did write one. I'm not gonna put it up on here, because I do wanna stick to one moral of mine, at least, but it'll be up as a separate story on AO3 (archive of our own), probably in a series with Day After Day. As for this note, it's gonna be taken down in a few days and put onto the 27th chapter as a little side-note. Anyway, thanks to everyone for reading! If you need my AO3 name it's "TN_Night", I'll put a link somewhere too if I can.

(AO3 homepage link + /users/TN_Night)


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